Powell students will not return to their regular classrooms for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

“We were always hopeful that we would avoid this — that somehow we would maybe get to take part in some school in the month of May,” said Jay Curtis, superintendent of Park County School District No. 1. However, he said, “the chances started looking slimmer and slimmer.” State officials indicated on Thursday that schools will have to remain mostly closed through at least May 15; Powell officials announced Friday that they would not reopen this school year.

Curtis said the decision did not come lightly, “but we do feel it is the best decision for the health and safety of our students, staff and community.”

While school buildings remain closed, remote learning will continue through May 29, the previously scheduled last day of school. In the end, Curtis said, Powell educators wanted to have some level of continuity. Transitioning everyone to remote learning in recent weeks was a monumental task, he said.

“I think it would be just as much of a monumental task to transition them back into school,” Curtis said Sunday, with so many details to work out, such as meals, transportation and other considerations. “I know we have all those things in place, but there is so much that has changed.”

Graduation will continue on May 24 as originally scheduled, but in a much different format. High school leaders involved seniors and their parents in the decision-making process, and “the vast majority said they wanted to have a ceremony on the day that’s always been planned in May,” Curtis said.

The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in the Powell High School parking lot, with seniors and their families driving into the lot in an organized fashion.

The stage that is normally in the gymnasium will be set up in the parking lot.

“Each senior will get the opportunity to walk up, walk across the stage and get their diploma,” Curtis said.

School leaders are working with local radio stations to broadcast the ceremony, and it also will be streamed live on Facebook.

“Once all names are read, we will have all seniors stand beside their vehicles and turn their tassels at the same time,” said PHS Principal Tim Wormald. “We will then have the graduates exit the parking lot and follow the parade route through town.”

Wormald said plans for a brief outdoor ceremony are “somewhat dependent on the weather.”

Shoshone Learning Center graduates will have their own ceremony in the parking lot earlier in the day, at a time that has yet to be determined, Wormald said.

SLC students are invited to participate in the parade following the PHS ceremony, he said.

Since parking for the ceremony will likely be limited to seniors and their families, spectators will have to tune into a broadcast and then pick a spot along the parade route to celebrate with the seniors. The specific parade route, as well as other details, will be announced once finalized.

Close to 100 seniors responded to a survey about graduation plans.

“As you might imagine, the responses and opinions shared varied significantly,” Wormald said, “what will be best for some people will not work at all for others.”

Based on the survey and comments, the principal said it was clear they needed to prioritize three things: hold an event allowing all seniors to celebrate together; give graduates the opportunity to have their name read aloud as they walked across the stage, wearing their cap and gown; and give the community the opportunity to celebrate seniors and their accomplishments.

District leaders had discussed the possibility of a graduation ceremony later in the summer.

“... some seniors actually wanted to postpone it,” Wormald said, “but we chose not to because many seniors indicated that doing so would not work for them.”

Curtis said he is glad seniors’ voices were heard.

“I said from the very beginning that I wanted this to be a decision made with the seniors, not for them,” he said Sunday.

Any opening ‘still a ways off’

Surveys in other communities have shown at least half of parents said they would not send their kids back to school this year, even if schools reopened.

“Although I didn’t do a formal survey, some of the feedback that I was receiving from parents was roughly that as well,” Curtis said.

Having half of students at home and half at school would not be the best thing for anybody, Curtis said. The superintendent said “there’s no way” he could ask staff to provide learning in the classroom as well as learning at home.

“The fact is that we want kids in the buildings. That is the greatest desire of our hearts,” Curtis said. “However, we also want everybody to have the best opportunity at learning.”

A lot of school employees also are in risk categories for COVID-19, he said.

“We really couldn’t be confident that we could have all of our staff back in the buildings,” Curtis said.

Certain services for special populations “may be modified to provide limited in-person instructional delivery, but likely not within the school buildings,” the superintendent wrote in Friday’s announcement.

District leaders are working with Park County Public Health officials, and they’ve “determined that any type of opening of the schools is still a ways off,” Curtis wrote.

The hope is to provide “a robust summer school option” for kids in kindergarten through eighth grade, as well as credit recovery for high school students.

While district leaders are “extremely hopeful” that students can begin summer classes in school buildings on July 6, that date is tentative and depends on public health orders, the COVID-19 outbreak at that time and approval from the Wyoming Department of Education.

“In order for our school district to re-open, whether that be to some limited degree this school year, during summer school, or for the ‘20-21 school year, we will first need to develop a re-entry plan,” Curtis wrote.

He encouraged parents to continue working with their children to help make sure they’re staying engaged with their education. As for students, Curtis asked them to “please commit to finishing the school year in a strong manner by continuing to attend and participate in your classes.”

He also thanked parents and the community for their support during these challenging times.