When the Wilton school board held a virtual special meeting, followed by a work session April 22, the bulk of the discussion revolved around what to do with the school’s annual graduation ceremony.
On April 17, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that schools would remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring sports have also been canceled and a decision on summer sports will be made by June 1.
Prom has already been postponed. What to do about commencement was a bigger dilemma.
“It’s the hot topic,” said Wilton High School Principal Marc Snavely. “In my mind the best solution was a virtual graduation.”
According to Snavely, a virtual graduation would include taped speeches from the principal, superintendent, senior class speakers, plus individual videos of each senior in their cap and gown accepting their diplomas separately on the stage. A video would be spliced together later and a parade of cars could be held on May 17, the original date set for graduation prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Each senior could drive through in their own vehicle, where they’d be given their diplomas by administration with their name illuminated on the video board at the high school entrance.
Sounded like a good plan, until discussions were held with members of the senior class.
Snavely said that class president Scott Martin and student council president Taylor Garvin were called into his office to present the idea. “They hated that idea. They wanted a live graduation ceremony,” Snavely said.
He said the students began texting other seniors while in his office and it seemed around 80 percent of those reached also wanted a live ceremony. Afterward, the district sent a survey to seniors and their parents. Although only 67 responded, 70 percent preferred a live ceremony.
In response, and with the eventual blessing of the school board, Wilton will postpone its graduation ceremony until July 12. Snavely did warn that it was unknown what kind of restrictions would be in place statewide, if any. Also, several students would be unable to attend at that time, including those leaving for the military. He also noted that a prom would be held at some point prior to that July 12 date.
“It’s about the students and what they want. As long as they’re clear on the risks, that’s what we do,” said board member Rob Metzger.
Board member Jeremy Lies added that if the state athletic unions decide to allow summer sports in June, that would increase the chances of having a live grad ceremony.
Board member Tara Oien said she agreed with the virtual idea. “As a parent of a senior, I agree with Marc’s initial idea. My heart goes out to the kids but I don’t want it to be less than what we could do now.”
“They want the final chance to say goodbye. They are a tight-knit class,” said Snavely.
“We will not make everyone happy,” added board president Linda Duncan.
“No one wins here. It’s the world we live in right now. Not everyone gets what they want,” said board member Tim Barrett.
After deciding on the July 12 date, a letter was sent to parents and seniors April 24. In it, Snavely noted that the ceremony would start at noon that day but the school would be following any guidelines still in place by the state. If crowd restrictions are in place, only seniors (and families) would be allowed to attend. It depends on numbers. If so, the ceremony would be broadcast live on Facebook. In the meantime, some of the components will be pre-recorded.
If social distancing rules say 75 or less people, a virtual ceremony will be held. At that time the pre-recorded parts would be released on Facebook, and the school plans to work with the Wilton Police Department to have a parade of seniors in their cars along the Founders Day parade route. The parade of cars would stop at the school electronic sign where their names will be displayed and read aloud, one-by-one.
Graduates will receive a pass/fail grade for the second semester based on work they completed prior to school closure March 15.
The annual awards night will also not happen. Snavely noted that students would be given the option to come to school and receive their awards in front of the school’s green screen on video.
Commons project back on budget
In a special meeting prior to the lengthy graduation discussion, the board approved several contracts and change orders surrounding the upcoming high school gym commons project. Point Builders will serve as the general contractor and Precision Builders of Bettendorf will handle general construction; Trace Fire Protection of Milan, Illinois was awarded the fire sprinkler bid; Crawford Company of Rock Island was awarded the mechanical bid; and Ace Electric of North Liberty was awarded the electrical bid.
The total project cost, plus contingency and architectural fees, is roughly $2.676 million and included several change orders in order to bring the cost back down into the $2.6 million range that was originally targeted. It was also noted that the high school gym would receive air conditioning as part of the project.
With school being out early, Tim Anderson of Point Builders said the project might begin early, possibly May 1.
Miscellany
In other action, the board:
* Approved the 2020-2021 master contract with roughly a 3.036 percent package increase.
* The 2020-2021 staff handbook was approved.
* Approved a student-teacher agreement with Iowa Wesleyan University.
* Approved the purchase of 78 Chromebooks for sixth grade at a cost of $22,104.22.
* Approved the resignations of Nicole Anderson, high school wrestling cheer coach; and Marcia Hetzler, academic team adviser.
* Approved the job description for the new upcoming HR position, which Superintendent Joe Burnett noted would include operational sharing dollars for the equivalent of five students.
Board members Metzger, Oien, Duncan, Lies and Barrett were present virtually. All action taken was unanimous. The next regular meeting is May 13.
