Should Lindenhurst Have An In-Person Graduation?

LINDENHURST, NY — Lindenhurst parents are asking the school district to give high school seniors an in-person graduation ceremony with guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Since all schools in the state closed in March, many events for high school seniors, such as prom, were canceled. As the state stay-at-home order was lifted in June, some local schools began planning graduation ceremonies.

Several school districts on Long Island planned multiple ceremonies, limiting the amount of students attending each event. Each student was allowed only two guests and social distancing guidelines were enforced.

In Lindenhurst, the school district announced in a letter to the community that after receiving responses to a survey sent out to parents, the district planned to host a drive-by graduation for seniors, who will be wearing their cap and gowns, either Thursday or Friday. The plan includes allowing students and family members to drive through Lindenhurst High School at a specified time where they will then will get out and walk a red carpet to the administrator who will give them their diploma while their name is read aloud. The students will then continue on to have their professional photo taken before getting back in their car and departing.

"I understand that this may be a disappointing option for many who had hoped to attend an in-
person ceremony," the letter from Superintendent Daniel Giordano read. "In today’s uncertain health climate, it is the responsibility of the district to make decisions based upon the data and not on our emotion, however."

Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo's state guidelines, graduation ceremonies of 150 people or fewer, including all attendees, were allowed. According to Giordano's letter, if the Lindenhurst School District were to follow the current guidelines for in-person ceremonies, they would have to host potentially more than 15 graduation ceremonies.

"You can see that this is not a practical option for myriad reasons, specifically, the health and well-being of attendees during a global pandemic," Giordano wrote. "Moreover, we had to strongly consider the outpouring of concern from parents and community members, that hosting an in-person ceremony may be an irresponsible choice. Beyond the school walls, we have no jurisdiction to enforce whether or not students should attend non-school related social celebrations or activities. This brings into question the potential health risk to others who would attend the school sponsored graduation, as it would be impossible for us to determine whether or not members of the class have been socially distancing responsibly."

However, some local parents disagreed with having this type of graduation. One local parent, Linda Masotto, started an online petition on Change.orgto request the school district host a similar graduation this month.

"We want to have a real in person high school graduation for our seniors they have missed out on so much this year because of the pandemic," she wrote. "Other districts are doing it safely why are we being excluded its not fair these kids deserve a real graduation just like every other school after 12 years."

Masotto believes that multiple ceremonies with only two parents or guardians allowed, social distancing rules and mask wearing should be considered. As of Wednesday, the petition has received 667 signatures. Another parent, Darlene Simolin, also sent a letter to school district officials:

Good evening. I hope this email finds you all well. As we are all aware 2020 has been a crazy year and we have all had our share of disappointments and stress. I believe our graduating seniors have had more than their share. Last week a survey was sent out by Mr. Giordano and Dr Brodie giving not so wonderful choices for graduation. This caught many of us that actually received the survey by surprise because we were under the belief that by waiting until August for graduation and if the covid cases in NY were low as they are now we could have something close to a traditional graduation ceremony. From what Mr. Giordano told me when he called my home on Tuesday less than 1/3 voted and some that did vote sent him private emails voting differently. To me it seems that survey was compromised from the start since many didnt get it and others sent multiple answers. We have a petition with over 400 signatures showing how it is important for many of us that a traditional ceremony be arranged and if need be do a drive by for those with concerns. For many of these graduates this may be their only opportunity to have a ceremony. I know I personally voted for many of you on the board because I felt you will always have my childrens best interests in mind. Please help us and treat this as if it were your childs graduation. Help us convince Mr Giordano that this is what the 2020 seniors deserve. They didn't have a prom,senior trip,yearbook signing or any of the special events past classes enjoyed. Let's show them we really care and they are important and deserving...let's show them our Lindy pride!

"[We] have the same circumstances as all the other districts that did in-person graduations," Simolin said. "Guess our students picked the short straw. It could have been done safely like many others."

Giordano addressed the parents' concerns in a second letter to the community. He started by apologizing to the parents for feeling like they were "let down."

"It was never the intention of any member of the administration or faculty to deprive the Class of 2020 of any more than what has already been taken from them beyond our control," he wrote.

He then reiterated that the difficult decision was "not made arbitrarily, or thoughtlessly."

"We are still in the midst of a global pandemic and this year has been like nothing I have ever seen and has left us all navigating unchartered territory, forcing us to face complicated decisions that we’ve never had to face. When you are the person in charge of deciding such things, I’ve learned that you can’t make decisions emotionally. You must make decisions that are for the benefit of the community as a whole. There are always going to be people who feel let down by your decisions. In truth, it is the hardest part of the job. It is difficult to balance your desire to provide the best for the students and families you serve and know that in some cases, those choices are going to hurt those very same people. In this case, however, I did not have make this difficult decision on my own."

Giordano wrote that while school district officials hoped to be able to have an in-person graduation, which is the reason it was pushed until August. However he stated that it became more complicated after receiving the parent survey. According to Giordano, he stated that the survey found that many community members expressed their concern that students have been attending other events in a manner that was "less than responsible." As a result, they became concerned that the in-person ceremony could "jeopardize the health and well-being of all others in attendance."

"We recognized how challenging the year was for them in particular and tried to safely infuse moments of celebration to demonstrate our pride in their accomplishments until the day we would gather to recognize their graduation," he wrote. "Now, while I do understand your feeling that you/your child have/has earned the opportunity to cross that stage, it is my responsibility to create a ceremony that would be inclusive of all students, because every student deserves the opportunity to be recognized for their accomplishments.

"If we hosted in-person ceremonies, aside from the potential risk of infection resulting from emotional moments of vulnerability in which students gather to take photos, or hug each other in congratulations, we must also take into consideration that many of the members of the class would not attend for fear of the virus preventing them from going on to follow their post graduate plans. I know that other districts have made different decisions, and I can’t speak to what lead them to go that route. I can only say that we thoughtfully and carefully reviewed all of the scenarios and had to move forward with what we believed to be the safest and most inclusive option. I hope that one day you will look back on this and recognize how difficult a decision it was to make."

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