Commentary: Newport-Mesa school board decision to suspend in-person graduation ceremony is premature

Happy graduates revel on the red carpet after getting their diplomas during the 53rd annual commencement ceremony at Corona del Mar High School in 2016.

By Johanna Curgus

May 22, 2020 11:59 AM PT

It was just announced that all Newport-Mesa Unified School District graduations would be virtual this year.

We are left scratching our heads, trying to figure out how the school board could decide so soon that we cannot have an in-person graduation ceremony.

It’s a month until the Newport-Mesa kids will finish school. Why couldn’t they have waited a few more weeks to figure out if an in-person graduation could be pulled off sometime later in the summer?

There is a lot of scientific evidence that by sheltering in place we have flattened the curve in our state, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is talking about opening up in “weeks, not months.”

To the class of 2020 seniors (and their families), it feels like the school board is giving up way too soon.

Graduation from high school is the culmination of 13 years of growth and development, with plenty of stress and heartache along the way. It is the most important and memorable experience in a young person’s life.

The act of walking across the stage symbolizes the journey from childhood to adulthood and is something most kids (and all parents) look forward to for years.

The seniors in our neighborhood are making posters to protest their graduation being cancelled as I write this. They understand this is a once in-a-lifetime pandemic, and they won’t get to have a grad night or a bunch of big parties, but for them, the graduation ceremony is the closing of this chapter of their lives. It is something they have worked hard for and something worth fighting hard for.

So what is the solution? Why not try and preserve graduation, even if it needs to be scaled back to just the kids walking across the stage one by one — 6 feet apart, with it live-streamed so families can watch?

I would think the kids would even be willing to wear a mask and gloves if that meant they could hear their name being called and walk across the stage to collect their diploma.

I am not some precious flower who thinks this is the worst thing that will ever happen to any of these seniors; it’s not. I remind my son all of the time how lucky he is to live in this beautiful community, to have a roof over his head and plenty of food.

And I would never suggest holding an event that endangered even one person’s life, I am just suggesting that maybe the decision could have been made in a few more weeks — or even another month — when we have more data. It feels like the school board threw in the towel a little early.

The late Bruce Lee put it this way: “If you think a thing is impossible, you’ll only make it impossible.”

I would like to believe there still is a possibility.

The writer lives in Newport Beach.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

Commentary: Newport-Mesa school board decision to suspend in-person graduation ceremony is premature

More on this Subject