Central High School changes graduation plan from virtual to in-person amid coronavirus
Now that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has eased restrictions as infections from the deadly coronavirus pandemic have slowed, Central High School has changed its graduation plan from virtual to in-person ceremonies.
They will be conducted May 11-15 in Garrett-Harrison Stadium, starting at 7 p.m.
Those were the dates Phenix City Schools had designated for each of Central’s 411 seniors and their four guests to come to the school for a personal graduation ceremony that would have been recorded and put together in a video to be broadcast online later this month.
But the governor’s amended safer-at-home order Friday allowed Central to change that plan and get closer to the original ceremony that was supposed to be in the Columbus Civic Center.
“I’ve been told we’re the first in the state (to have an in-person high school graduation ceremony this year), perhaps the first in the nation,” Phenix City superintendent Randy Wilkes told the Ledger-Enquirer. “I don’t know. We didn’t do it intending to be the first by any stretch. It was just the nights designated for the video already.”
So the seniors are signing up to attend one of the five ceremonies, with less than 100 allowed per night. Each ceremony will have the same program and speeches by the valedictorian, salutatorian, principal Tommy Vickers and Wilkes.
“We have been committed to having a graduation — because students have earned it — that is as close to what they would have had prior to COVID-19,” he said. “… But Mr. Vickers had a Google meeting right after we talked Friday with the senior class officers, and they were ecstatic. So based on his conversation and based on the governor’s orders, I checked with city officials to make sure it was possible, and they have been wonderful to coordinate with us.”
Each graduate is allowed four guests. They will sit in the home stands, 6 feet apart and separated by two rows of bleachers, Wilkes said.
Masks won’t be required or made available, but they are “highly recommended,” he said. “We’re not going beyond the governor’s order.”
Phenix City Police Capt. Mike Campbell said in a news release Monday, “The City of Phenix City is not liable for anyone contracting an illness or becoming sick, and each attendee is responsible for his/her well-being. Each person attending the ceremony will do so at their own risk.”
Click here for the latest information available about graduation ceremonies for other high schools in the Columbus area.
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 3:30 PM.
