KINGWOOD — The Preston County Health Department will not approve Preston High’s outdoor graduation ceremony.
Preston School Superintendent Steve Wotring said Monday that he had received word from County Health Department Director V.J. Davis. The ceremony was scheduled for June 18.
In a statement to the board, Davis said: “After talking with [Preston County Public Health Officer] Dr. Conley, we just feel there is no way we can sign off on a potential gathering of up to 900 people even with the governor increasing gathering sizes to 100 people.”
The attendance is based on a graduating class of roughly 300 students and two guests per student.
“The chances of having asymptomatic individuals in that large of a crowd is almost a given,” Davis wrote. “The chances of keeping people from gathering for pictures, hugs, handshakes, etc. is also almost impossible to prevent.”
Davis referred to the many community recognition for seniors across the county. Seniors and their families also participated in individual ceremonies in the school gym last month.
“This senior class has been celebrated in more ways than most, but unfortunately they have not been able to celebrate in the most traditional way. With that said, we are also in the middle of a public health emergency that no living person has had to deal with. As the health department, we have to err on the side of caution. The last thing we want or the BOE wants is to have a gathering of hundreds of people and then 5 days later an outbreak of positives that were all at the graduation ceremony,” the department said.
“I feel you guys have done a great job of providing a very nice non-traditional ceremony and our local communities have stepped up and provided small local celebrations for the graduates. Having a large ceremony with everyone together is just not a good idea at the current time and the possible dangers far outnumber the benefits. I know this is not what you want to hear, and it is not what we want to have to say, but we also feel it is the safe decision,” Wotring said “It is so very unfortunate and sad that we will be unable to gather as a group in our traditional format of graduation to celebrate this milestone in the life of these amazing seniors.
“I thank the graduation committee at Preston High School for their organization and coordination for the two days of ceremony they put together for our seniors. We will be providing every senior with a video compilation of all graduates and the student speeches for them to keep along with a 5-by-7 photograph of them receiving their diploma. As superintendent, I must always keep the safety of our staff and students paramount to all that we do and thus, I must stand with our Preston County Health Department in this decision,” Wotring concluded.
