BEVERLY HILLS—Over last Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, congratulatory signs were placed on the front yards of homes of Beverly Hills High School’s (BHHS) seniors.

The signs read “Congratulations Seniors! Class of 2020”, and the BHHS Parent Teacher Student Association Senior Committee will continue to deliver them throughout the month of May, as first reported by Patch.

This gesture comes after weeks of deliberation on how to plan and host the seniors’ graduations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During a live-streamed meeting between the Board of Education and Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) on April 14, Vice President Rachelle Marcus read a letter by Angela Bradbury, a BHHS senior.

Bradbury wrote that “graduation cannot be something that my class loses. I urge you and the Board of Education to please consider making graduation possible once this pandemic has passed.” She then clarified that by “making graduation possible,” she meant “not just an online version of it, but a live ceremony that all families and friends can attend at BHHS, even if it’s in the summer.”

Board President Isabel Hacker echoed Bradbury with a similar sentiment: “If we’re given the green light from the state of California that allows us that wiggle room to have a group convene – a graduation, an event of that nature – then I think we should allow for that to happen, taking the social distancing rules and guidelines of course very seriously, and making those be part of how we structure our graduations, but I think we should try to postpone at this point.”

2 weeks later, on April 29, BHUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Breggy shared a video announcing plans for a graduation ceremony. While plans earlier on were to perhaps continue with the June 3 ceremony, seniors will now be provided with a 2-day virtual ceremony starting on the same date. 

The ceremony will include a video graduation and a ‘Diploma Drive’ at BHHS itself. Students will drive through the parking lot wearing a cap and gown, and receive their diplomas. Graduation photos will then be taken with each student standing 6 feet away from Principal Mark Mead.