Franklin Regional eyes more-traditional commencement following relaxation of covid restrictions

For Franklin Regional Senior High School Principal Ron Suvak, the past 365 days mean he’s just a year older.

“But our kids only get to be kids one time,” he said. “There are certain things endemic to the high school experience that we weren’t able to recreate last year.”

That includes graduation, which last year took place in two, staggered, socially-distanced ceremonies.

But with the relaxation of covid-19 restrictions by the state on Memorial Day, the Panther Class of 2021 will have a chance at a much more traditional commencement this year on June 4.

“Instead of limiting it to two tickets per graduate, and having to socially distance, our current plan is to provide four tickets to each graduate, with a completely traditional ceremony and all the other senior events of that week,” Suvak said.

Understanding that some families may still be hesitant to attend sizable public events, Suvak said limiting attendance somewhat “will allow any family that wants to observe social distancing to do so.”

Suvak said his greatest disappointment over the course of the pandemic was not being able to provide seniors with the sort of meaningful personal experiences their peers in previous years enjoyed.

“This year, our goal as a district was to create as many opportunities for our kids and families as possible, whether those are artistic, athletic, extracurricular — those seminal events that students have come to want that are just part of being in high school,” he said. “All of us here want to make it as special as possible for our kids.”

For graduation-related announcements, see FRSDk12.org.