Brick 'Holding Out Hope' For In-Person Graduation: Superintendent

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township School District has not made a final decision on what its high school graduation ceremonies will look like for the Class of 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

"We still are holding out hope for the possibility for an in-person, albeit abbreviated, in-person conferring of diplomas," Superintendent Thomas Farrell said during Thursday's Board of Education meeting.

As the days tick off the school calendar — June 19 is the last day of school for Brick Township Schools students — and Gov. Phil Murphy begins to slowly ease the executive orders to enforce social distancing in the coronavirus crisis, the debate about high school graduations have become increasingly tense.

And the messages from the state on the matter have changed almost daily.

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On Saturday, New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan sent a letter to the state Department of Education and school districts across the state, telling them in-person celebrations were not an option, because they violated Murphy's stay-at-home order. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

That order, Callahan said, said people should be staying home except when going out for necessities such as buying food, picking up prescriptions and the like.

"In the best interest of the health and safety of the public, in-person ceremonies, including graduations, all parades including 'wave parades,' that invite people to gather at a certain location, proms, and other similar celebrations ... should therefore be cancelled or postponed until such time as these restrictions are lifted," Callahan's letter said in part. "Until such time, virtual celebrations and other remote forms of recognition should take the place of any in-person or public ceremonies."

On Wednesday, Murphy said districts could hold in-car graduations, provided everyone stayed in their cars, with the windows up, 6 feet apart. Read more: Gov. Murphy: Outdoor NJ Graduations Can Happen – In Your Car

"We understand the importance of celebrating the class of 2020," Farrell said. "I will not be that superintendent that is going to emphatically say we are not having an in-person ceremony at this point. We are holding out as long as we can."

Farrell said the district is prepared if the final call is to hold a virtual graduation in June.

"We have a myriad of celebrations planned virtually and some cool surprises," he said. But that's not the answer he's hoping for, in the end.

"We are going to hold out the hope that we are going to celebrate the class of 2020 in the right and fitting tradition," Farrell said.

He said Brick and Brick Memorial seniors will receive information about caps and gowns soon, along with information about locker cleanouts, returning materials and other end-of-year tasks.

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