Families will have a chance to be a part of New Westminster Secondary School graduation ceremonies this spring after all.
Earlier in May, families of the Class of 2021 were notified of plans to conduct grad ceremonies in the school theatre for cohorts of up to 120 students – but without spectators, to align with provincial health restrictions.
That plan led to disappointment from both parents and school board trustees, who pushed for a plan that would allow families to be involved in the grad ceremonies in some way.
At the May 11 board meeting, trustee Danielle Connelly said she had heard from a large number of parents who were disappointed by the news. She said this year’s grads deserved a chance to have their families involved.
“They’ve missed a lot of final pieces to growing up and moving on, and I think we owe it to them to honour that and give their families the opportunity to participate,” she said.
At the subsequent board meeting May 25, superintendent Karim Hachlaf returned to the board with good news. Following a meeting with parents and the loosening of provincial health restrictions after the May long weekend, the school will now allow families to attend a limited ceremony.
“A graduate can technically walk the stage with their family in the audience, but we can’t have an entire cohort as per our original planning,” Hachlaf said. “We can’t have that whole cohort in the theatre at the same time.”
That means grads will cycle through their stage walks individually, and grads and spectators will circulate through the theatre “in a COVID-safe way,” as Hachlaf noted. The school's plans have been approved by Fraser Health.
He acknowledged the new plan involves an enormous amount of coordination from staff but said he’s “really thrilled” the district can allow parents to be in the theatre.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
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