Ravally: School District Considering FHS Graduation Alternatives

In the wake of Gov. Phil Murphy’s order closing all schools until at least mid-May, the township schools superintendent said April 16 that the district is “certainly” looking at options to the traditional June graduation.

Speaking during a virtual Town Hall hosted by Mayor Phil Kramer, schools Superintendent John Ravally said that Franklin High School principal Frank Chmiel is talking to students and others about graduation.

Chmiel is “meeting with senior class officers,” and is planning on meeting with parents and members of the school’s PTOS, Ravally said.

“We’re talking about options,” he said. “There are lots of different options that people are kicking around across the country.”

He said that while the hope is students will be back in school in mid-May, “I think we have to plan an alternative just the same.”

“It’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “It’s not going to be the same.”

Graduation, he said, “is one of our most precious events every year. It’s something we most certainly care deeply about.”

Ravally also said the district is creating plans for “phase three” of the remote learning program necessitated by the school closings.

He said questions about grading, marking periods and final exams will be among those answered in a “12- to 15-minute screen cast” that will be posted on the district’s web site on April 20.

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