Thomas Jefferson High School has canceled its Aug. 8 commencement ceremony for the class of 2020 based on the latest guidelines and mitigation efforts from the Allegheny County Health Department.

“Our plan since April was to keep the wishes and best interests of the seniors at heart. We included a core group of student council seniors in the decision-making process, and it was clear all along that they wanted a prom and traditional graduation,” West Jefferson Hills School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Ghilani said. “We even surveyed the senior class at the end of May and over 70% of the senior class indicated they would rather wait until a later date to have an official graduation ceremony in the stadium.”

A virtual graduation ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Aug. 7. District director of public relations Carrie Lekse said it will be both live-streamed and archived for all members of the Thomas Jefferson High School community.

Additionally, professional graduation photos will be taken for use in the virtual ceremony. Students will be asked to social distance and wear masks to those appointments.

“Up until this time, things were trending in the right direction and the county was opening up,” Ghilani said. “Unfortunately, cases have spiked which ultimately resulted in another order from the Allegheny County Health Department … which made traditional graduation impossible.”

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