In light of a recent board meeting and a petition regarding high school graduation ceremonies, the IHS Voice would like to fact check ongoing social media discussions regarding Class of 2020 graduation.

• FUSD High Schools will officially be holding virtual graduations, but have not closed the door on in-person graduations. The district is doing this in the event COVID resurges and in-person events are impossible. While students are technically graduated after June and are not FUSD students anymore, Director of Secondary Education Zack Larsen claims FUSD will be flexible with regards to holding future in-person graduations.
  • Source: Board Meeting 5/6/20 (Video Timecodes: 44:00, 1:18:00, 1:24:00)
• Discussion of drive-through graduation: currently, students are picking up their cap and gown at their school sites, but the district is worried that an official drive-through graduation will lead to celebratory behaviors and a disruption to traffic in neighborhoods. However, they did not address celebratory concerns that a drive-through cap and gown pickup may also cause.
  • Source: Board Meeting 5/6/20 (Timecodes: 1:51:20, 1:28:00)
• While the district is using the $30,000 of in-person graduation funds for the virtual graduation, there have been no definitive decisions of reallocating those funds for anything else. There was, however, discussion about whether those funds would be needed to be used to ship diplomas, yearbooks, and other things to students.
  • Source: Board Meeting 5/6/20  (Timecode: 1:31:00)
• Schools throughout the Bay Area are taking different approaches to HS graduation.
  • Some schools have already postponed their graduation ceremonies. Palo Alto and Gunn High, for example, have planned for a December ceremony. Novato High School has scheduled an August ceremony. Others, like Lincoln High, are continuing with virtual graduations but are also fighting vigorously for in-person ceremonies.
    • Sources: Kron4: Novato High School announces in person graduation plans for 2020 class
    • Palo Alto Online: Palo Alto, Gunn high schools to postpone graduation until December
    • KCRA3: Stockton parents, student petition for in-person graduation
    • Change.org: Lincoln High School Petition and FUSD Petition

Please let us know if we made any mistakes in our fact-checking. Stay tuned as we talk to Irvington students and staff about their opinions on FUSD’s decision.