Committee develops BVA graduation plan

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

A special committee has come up with options designed to allow Belle Vernon Area High School’s Class of 2020 to graduate as a group.

The committee was formed at a special school board meeting Monday after several students registered dissatisfaction with the multi-session graduation ceremony been proposed by the district and high school administrators. Initially the committee was to include representatives from Rostraver Township, but board President Joe Grata said the township opted out to prevent a potential conflict of interest. 

Grata said district administrators, four board members, the class officers, two parents and two students participated in the nearly three-hour-long session.

“We’ve looked at a dozen options trying to make this work,” Grata said. “We’ve had input from our attorneys and other school districts. The staff has spent oodles of time trying to see whatever we could do.”

A survey was sent out to all high school seniors, with 139 of the 176 graduates responding. The overwhelming first choice was for a traditional graduation with all the students and their family members attending a single event. 

The district had proposed dividing the class into four groups, each with its own ceremony, in order to comply with the state and Centers for Disease Control directive to limit gatherings to 250 people or fewer.

The committee came up with a proposal that keeps the class together, but divides the high school stadium into three venues, with each venue well under the 250-person limit.

“We would physically separate the stadium into three areas, each with its own entrance and exit,” Grata said.

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