Matt Miller, superintendent of the 16,800-student Lakota school system, said the two schools will host their ceremonies for graduates in each of the Butler County stadiums, with a backup rain date for both.
Depending on state and local health officials rescinding crowd restrictions by June 25, Lakota West will hold its graduation at 8 p.m. July 8 with a rain date for the same time on July 10.
Lakota East will conduct its commencement at 8 p.m. July 9 or July 11 at the same time if the first date is rained out.
A second, later set of dates have been set in case crowd restrictions are not lifted by state health officials until July 23.
In that scenario, Lakota West will hold commencement at 8 p.m. Aug. 5, with a rain date of Aug. 7.
Lakota East will hold graduation at 8 p.m. on Aug. 6 or Aug. 8.
“This is not finalized by any stretch,” Miller told the Lakota Board of Education during a recent video-conference meeting.
Miller later said in a video statement posted to Lakota’s website, “we want to celebrate the class of 2020 the best way we can.”
Miller said he is sympathetic to the uncertainty all school families are experiencing, especially graduating seniors.
“I know that the last month has been a challenging time for all of you. In addition to moving to remote learning, there has been much uncertainty about our traditional events celebrating your senior year,” he said. “It is our hope that sharing both sets of dates with you now will help you and your families to plan accordingly. We are also working through other celebrations for our seniors as well, such as our Military Commitment Ceremony and our Parade of Graduates.”
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