Stafford Schools has taken a giant leap by announcing a graduation ceremony for high school seniors, joining Manassas City Public Schools in being one of the first area school divisions to set a date amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The tentative graduation date is August 1 at 8 a.m., but according to Superintendent Scott Kizner, nothing is set-in-stone.
“This is contingent upon action from the governor and guidance from health experts,” Kizner said.
The school division will proceed with the in-person graduation, unless Gov. Ralph Norham should decide to extend his mandatory stay-home order beyond June 10, or an in-person commencement is deemed unsafe,
If that happens, the school division that they will proceed with plans for virtual high school graduation to give students closure, Kizner said.
The surprise news came during a meeting of the Stafford County School Board on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
Also at the meeting, officials said 5,400 Chromebook computers have been provided to families of Stafford County Public Schools students for online learning, following Northam’s decision to close schools for the remainder of the academic year. The school division had already purchased the Chromebooks, as many of them were already in use at county schools before they abruptly closed.
The computers have been distributed to families that requested one.
“We actually have enough chromebooks to distribute for anyone who asks for it,” Kizner said. “The criteria really has been for people to ask [to be given a computer].”
More teachers are also using the Google classroom service for online learning, with numbers increasing from 2,100 users before spring break to 4,000 users now.
Wifi hotspots have been set up in all of the school parking lots for students who do not have internet access at home. Here, students to access the internet from the social-distanced safety of their cars.
Kizner also announced how tear-end grades would be calculated. Semester one will be 67 percent of the final grade, and quarter three will be 33 percent.
Some students were in 4×4 classes — those that met every day and are in session for only one semester. For these students, their final spring 4×4 grade will be the first-semester grade that ended on March 12.
Students in grades 7-12 will have the opportunity to improve their grades if need be. Final grades will be posted and accessed online by June 5.
The school division continues to place importance on feeding area families in need. The county-provided grab-and-go meal program has provided over 64,600 meals to students as of last Friday.
There has been no update on a plan for kindergarten registration for the 2020-21 school year.
“Our administration team is currently developing a process that facilitates the current limitations of meeting face-to-face,” Kizner said in his latest memo to families on April 9.
