Ringgold cancels prom, graduation uncertain

By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
Ringgold High School’s prom has been canceled for this year and the district is trying to figure out how to recognize and honor the Class of 2020.
During a virtual Ringgold School Board meeting held on the Zoom computer application Wednesday night, Acting Superintendent Randy Skrinjorich said graduation is one of the many unanswered questions at this point.
“We know seniors deserve to be recognized and celebrated,” Skrinjorich said. “We are figuring out alternative commencement activities.”
Once a decision is made, it will be announced, he said.
Skrinjorich said he was proud of the staff and teachers who developed a continuity of education plan.
“There were a whole lot of people working very hard to get the continuity of education program up and running,” board President Bill Stein said. “They were given very little notice and they all pitched in. Our staff did an excellent job and our teachers.”
Skrinjorich also thanked the food service department employees, who have prepared 8,900 lunches and breakfasts for the kids since the closure began.
Skrinjorich also thanked the Ringgold Police Department for help in distributing the food.
Stein said that during this time of uncertainty, the administration has had to make some difficult decisions, including the choice to cancel prom this year.
He told parents and students they will receive details on how the district plans to hold commencement.
“This virus, there is nothing that has been convenient about the way it has attacked and hurt us all,” Stein said. “These are hard decisions that have to be made in the best interest of our students and staff.”
The board voted in favor of doing an inventory of personal protective equipment in the district to determine if there are any extras that could be donated to Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Stein said there may be excess gloves, masks and other items that could help hospital staff fighting the coronavirus that the district doesn’t need while students are attending classes from home.
Board Vice President Jim Dodd asked Skrinjorich about the plan to help students retrieve personal items from the school buildings and said he’d like to know the plan before the next meeting.
Skrinjorich said his staff has been discussing the issue, particularly related to the senior class, to make sure they can access any books they have in their lockers that need to be returned to the district.
Skrinjorich said all items have already been removed from the lockers and placed in bags that are labeled by the locker numbers and students’ names. Now the administration has to determine how to figure out the process for distributing the bags to the students.
“We were waiting to see if any of the rules change related to the shut down and things like that,” Skrinjorich said, adding that nothing will likely happen before the first or second week of May.