Beaufort Co. Schools’ graduation plans changed after backlash. Here’s what’s different.
After hearing complaints from students, parents and one county leader, Beaufort County School District is modifying its plan for high school graduations — but only slightly.
The district’s graduation ceremonies will still be held online and streamed on the day of graduation, but high school seniors will now be permitted to bring an additional two guests — four total — with them to film their walks across the stage.
The change comes after community backlash. A petition to reconsider graduation with input from students, posted by May River High School senior Jaylin Miller, garnered more than 1,700 signatures in five days.
And a Facebook group titled “Beaufort County Class Of 2020 Needs a Proper Graduation,” created after last week’s graduation plan announcement, has more than 700 members, many of whom are asking for outdoor graduations.
The change to four guests was one of two proposals from class leaders across the district’s high schools, motivated by students with blended families and stepparents who could be excluded by the two-guest rule, according to Logan Bedenbaugh, Hilton Head Island’s student body president.
Superintendent Frank Rodriguez “has really taken us into consideration and agonized over the decision, as well as all the principals of our schools,” she said.
The Board of Education did not vote on the graduation plan, which Rodriguez presented to the board for information only.
However, board members intend to discuss a “statement and support for superintendent” regarding the graduation plan at their Tuesday meeting, which will begin at 4 p.m.
Anyone interested in making a public comment at the meeting must email the board’s administrative assistant at robyn.cushingberry@beaufort.k12.sc.us between 3 and 4 p.m.
The former plan
Other than the number of guests, the district’s plan for graduation remains unchanged from the school board’s May 5 meeting, when Rodriguez announced it.
Schools will hold virtual ceremonies that will be posted to YouTube on the day of graduation, made up of pre-recorded speeches and videos of seniors walking across the stage.
Ahead of the ceremony, students will go to schools to film their walks in groups of 10. Originally, seniors were allowed to bring only two supporters with them; they can now bring four.
Everyone present must wear a mask, though seniors can remove theirs for their walk, and temperatures will be checked by school nurses at the door. Anyone with a temperature above 100 degrees will not be allowed to enter.
In addition, schools will hold drive-through celebrations on the day of graduation where students will be congratulated by school staff and dignitaries. Seniors will receive their diplomas at the end of the drive-through celebrations.
“I have no doubt that our modified approach to graduation is the safer way to go,” Rodriguez wrote in a May 6 letter to seniors, which included citations from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the S.C. Association of School Nurses
“And while I know that some students and parents will disagree with my decision, I believe it is the correct one, given the extraordinary circumstances we are facing.”
The district’s six high school graduation movie premieres and drive-through celebrations are set for:
- June 1 – Battery Creek High
- June 2 – Beaufort High
- June 3 – May River High
- June 4 – Whale Branch Early College High
- June 5 – Hilton Head Island High
- June 6 – Bluffton High
‘This is a free country’
Rodriguez announced the change to his graduation plan Monday, in a Zoom meeting with student leaders, high school principals and some school board members.
“Students have said they understood the decision, and that they were disappointed in the decision,” Rodriguez said. “One student expressed that they agreed, it was safer. I have gotten personal emails from some students that agree with that notion, but they’re afraid to express that publicly because of backlash.”
The student leaders’ other proposal was to conduct a socially distanced outdoor ceremony, “with students six feet apart and with masks on,” Bedenbaugh said.
The second option was favored by many students and adults in the “Beaufort County Class Of 2020 Needs a Proper Graduation” Facebook group. Among them was County Council member Mike Covert, who wrote a letter to school board members asking them to hold graduation ceremonies in schools’ football stadiums.
“Home Depot and Lowes have been packed for two months,” Covert said Monday. “If that’s OK, why is it not OK to have graduations on a football field?”
“I’m not saying throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he continued. “But this is a free country.”
Many parents have brought up other school districts across the state in their letters to Rodriguez, citing Richland 1 and Lexington 1 School Districts’ decisions to hold socially distanced graduations outdoors.
Bedenbaugh said she wanted to support the district’s decision, as they “were looking out for our safety.” She said that Hilton Head High students were split between supporting a virtual or in-person graduation.
“I just hope everyone knows that one graduation ceremony does not define our class,” she said. “We’re so much more than that.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 4:00 PM.