Plan in place Freeport June graduation will be family focused
BUFFALO TWP — The Freeport Area School District’s administration waited. And waited. And waited.
Principal Mike Kleckner said he and the rest of the administration wanted to see what surrounding districts were planning to do to hold commencement before they leapt into a decision.
They couldn’t wait any longer.
After weeks of debate, administrators in the Freeport Area School District formulated a plan to hold a graduation ceremony June 4 and 5 and announced it in an email to students and parents Friday.
“We didn’t know where we would be in late July or even early July,” Kleckner said. “We were really nervous about pushing it back to July and then having nothing happen.”
The plan, though, was not well received by all Freeport seniors.
It calls for the 115 graduates to enter the Middle School auditorium, one at a time, to receive their diploma, as well as a rose, from two family members.
Each graduate will be filmed receiving their diploma and a full video of all graduates will be distributed at a later time.
Senior speeches will also be given and filmed.
Each family will receive a specific time to arrive at the Middle School on either June 4 or 5 between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Aggressive social distancing protocols will be in place, Kleckner said in an email sent out to all seniors Friday. Each family member will wear a mask at all times. Only the graduate will be permitted to remove his or her mask when they receive their diploma on stage.
Graduates can have up to nine family members in attendance.
“We wanted it to be intimate and wanted family members involved,” Kleckner said.
Several graduates, however, are unhappy.
This is an excerpt from a larger article that appeared in Wednesday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read what Freeport seniors have to say in the full article.
