Warning: Attend graduation at your own risk

We haven’t really talked much about the Wayne County Board of Education’s decision to do in-person graduations for the Class of 2020.

We confess. There has been a lot to write about lately — and while we had a commentary all prepared offering our thoughts on the matter, we felt like two resignations, $5 million in deficits and some concern over where they were going to get money to meet payroll (or at least a portion of it) were much more pressing.

But then, a reader sent us a copy of the liability waiver the district is going to ask you to sign if you are one of the lucky two people who will accompany a 2020 senior to one of these ceremonies.

If your reaction is anything like ours was, your face probably looks like this:

If you sign this waiver, be prepared.

If you catch COVID-19, you are on your own.

And don’t plan on suing the district if you die or someone you love dies, either.

Not even if you contract the virus because of WCPS’ negligence.

For those of you not familiar with legal jargon, that means that if someone who attends graduation — be it a student, family member or staff member — gets sick because someone at the school didn’t follow or enforce the safety guidelines, you still can’t hold the school district liable.

And it’s not crazy to assume — after Sheriff Larry Pierce told the board his deputies would not be enforcing social distancing or mask policy — that the protocol put in place might not be followed to the T.

So, let’s think about this a bit.

Why in the world would you have an in-person graduation, against the advice of health officials and after hearing the implicit warnings from your principals that making sure students, parents and staff are protected is the most important goal, and then wash your hands of liability and call, “Not it”?

We know why. There is liability in every school event, every gathering, every day in every classroom across Wayne County.

But this is a special case.

The reason the board members got into this mess in the first place all goes back to angry phone calls many of them likely received after the announcement that the district had come up with an alternative plan, one that would have set up a much safer and more controlled graduation ceremony for each school in the Berkeley Mall parking lot.

Of course, it caused a stir. There is not a person in Wayne County who doesn’t wish that he or she could give the Class of 2020 a graduation to remember and return this community to how it was before the global pandemic hit.

So, the board came up with an idea — ask the community, the seniors and their parents, what they wanted to do.

The results came back — on-field, in-person graduations.

The problem was that choice came with necessary limits — and a great deal of preparations and precautions that had to be accomplished before those ceremonies could become reality.

And that is what the county’s principals and facilities staffs have been scrambling to accomplish.

But here is the problem.

These limited, two-guest ceremonies are not really what the students wanted.

Their first choice was to have a traditional ceremony with friends and families there to mark the occasion with them.

We are not surprised this graduation ceremony plan got out of control. The board has been dealing with some pretty big concerns over the last few weeks.

But the liability waiver brings up a very important question: Is this wise?

We don’t really know yet where we stand on COVID-19, whether the months-long quarantine was an overreaction or a necessary life-saving decision.

We hope we know, but the truth is, we don’t. And while some of us might suspect that perhaps there could have been a better way to navigate this unfamiliar and often scary journey, there is still reason to be cautious.

Many county families are still worried about being in close contact and in large groups of people right now.

But it is also a valid argument that there are plenty of Wayne County residents who are moving back into their lives and setting aside thoughts about COVID-19.

We cannot stay hidden in our homes forever. It is time to get back to living our lives.

But the wise way to do that is to do it incrementally.

We are just now getting out. Restaurants are opening, but with serious restrictions. Some hours are still reduced, as are occupancy limits at businesses around town.

Slowly putting our lives back in order is a good plan.

So, we are concerned about a graduation plan for eight schools that has been put together in a couple of weeks.

We know that the county’s principals and their staffs as well as some county office employees have been doing their best.

And we also remember discussion by the board about how the liability forms were not about absolving the district of responsibility, but all about keeping people safe.

That is not how this release reads. 

We get it. This is the only way it could read, otherwise there is no sense in having one at all.

But it is a pretty clear message: Come to graduation at your own risk.

So, here is the bottom line: The Class of 2020 got cheated. They lost the chance to enjoy a very special rite of passage.

They did not get a prom, a senior night or graduation parties.

But they have been strong and mature through all of this. Sure, they lost a lot, and they have a reason to be sad and to complain a bit about the hand they were dealt.

But they have been thoughtful, too, concerned about their families, friends and community.

They have made the best out of an unfortunate situation and moved forward.

They have given us reason to be very proud.

We can talk about infection rates and dangers and decide if the steps that were taken were justified and if the state and federal responses were appropriate and measured.

But for now, we can err on the safe side. We can make sure that we are not putting large numbers of people into a situation where they will transmit a virus to vulnerable parts of our community unwittingly.

We can be safe for a little longer.

It is likely too late to do anything else other than what is already in the works, but we think it is worth doubling down to minimize the risk as much as possible.

And now, with a distracted board and a central office and district reeling from what can only be described as a cataclysmic upheaval, we want to make sure the boxes are all checked and that safety is Job 1.

The board should have stuck with the original plan and made the tough decision.

But since that’s not what happened, following the rules, observing safety precautions and being a part of a responsible celebration is what we can do now to protect our community.