South Florida high schools exploring in-person high school graduations for Class of 2021

South Florida’s Class of 2021 may be able to have a semblance of a normal send-off, after all.

The school superintendents of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Broward County Public Schools both announced this week that they are working toward holding modified, in-person high school graduations.

Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Thursday that his staff has begun conversations regarding physical, in-person graduations for the Class of 2021. The announcement came at the end of a School Board budget workshop.

“Seniors for the class of 2021 are getting pretty edgy,” he said, referring to their inquiries on social media.

In-person graduations, with safety measures, could happen, he stressed:

“Obviously, under special circumstances and careful protocols that take into account conditions at the time, more limited attendance, but still afford the graduate an opportunity to walk the stage, to listen to pomp and circumstance and have the appropriate picture taken with the principal of the school.”

Carvalho told the Miami Herald that full details will be released next month.

Exploring COVID-sniffing dogs at graduations

Pointing to declining COVID-19 positivity rates in Miami Dade County — the county’s 14-day average positivity rate was 6.30 percent as of Wednesday, down from double digits in early January — Carvalho said the district is consulting with its chief medical officer and medical experts.

They’re evaluating options, such as using larger indoor spaces as venues and COVID-sniffing dogs, like the Miami Heat and Florida International University have employed.

The district is still soliciting services for virtual graduations as a backup. And like past years, the ceremonies will be live streamed.

Broward will hold modified grad ceremonies

In Broward County, Superintendent Robert Runcie said the district will hold modified graduations that depend on venues with enough capacity. He said schools will still have drive-by graduations, which were a big hit last year.

“We don’t want to have our seniors going through the challenges last year,” Runcie said. “They deserve a traditional graduation experience.”

The fourth- and sixth-largest school districts in the country — and first- and second-largest in the state — are following the lead of the state’s largest universities.

The University of Florida and Florida State University have also announced holding in-person graduations for spring-semester graduates. Face masks will be required and the ceremonies will be condensed, according to the News Service of Florida.

Prom is a maybe

Prom, however, is trickier. Carvalho said the district is still exploring the feasibility of proms, which are less regimented and more complex to plan safely.

“We’re trying to normalize as much as possible their experience ... within the necessary guardrails,” he said.

Carvalho has received input from seniors like Maria Martinez, the student adviser to the School Board and student government president at School for Advanced Studies North. She’s been working with 400 to 500 student leaders who want to make graduations a live, in-person event this year.

She said students are willing to not graduate at a traditional venue, to wear a mask and exclude their families from graduation.

“If there’s anything we can do to help out or advocate for people being safe for graduation,” Martinez said. “Even if no family members are invited. We don’t mind going to that extent just to have an in-person graduation. Just to see our friends one last time.”

She said prom is less talked about among the seniors at SAS North, as more students are fixated on walking across the stage.

“When it comes to prom they understand the circumstances are different,” Martinez said. “We’re a little more understanding that with prom, the chances are not as high as graduation. But the one final event we really wanted throughout our whole life is high school graduation.”

And as for the Class of 2020 who missed out on the pageantry of their senior year, Carvalho said the district is still working out how to symbolically celebrate them.

He said the district could not safely hold an event at the end of last year for that class due to rising number of COVID cases in Miami-Dade County in December and January.

Miami Herald staff reporter David Goodhue contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 6:07 PM.