Corrado Urges Murphy Administration to Release Guidance for School Graduations

Senator Kristin Corrado urged the Murphy Administration to release guidance that would allow school districts to begin planning graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021.

“For students who graduated high school last year and their parents, not having a graduation ceremony in June really hurt,” said Corrado (R-40). “Our local school districts are eager to do better this year and give the Class of 2021 the graduation experience they deserve. We’re asking the Department of Education to release the guidance that districts will need to follow as soon as possible so they can begin planning right away.”

Last year, guidance for holding commencement ceremonies wasn’t provided by the New Jersey Department of Education until the end of May due to changing rules and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With limited time to plan and modified in-person ceremonies prohibited until early July, many districts skipped traditional commencement ceremonies completely in 2020.

“Our graduating seniors have missed out on the last year and a half of their high school experience,” added Corrado. “They shouldn’t miss out on their graduation, too. There’s a real hope that we’ll have made enough progress in vaccinations by June that our high school seniors can get the sendoff they deserve. Hopefully the DOE acts quickly and isn’t unnecessarily restrictive when they let us know how commencement ceremonies will be allowed to proceed.”