To Our School Board Community: We have been trying to anticipate and quickly respond to your questions during this time, given the unprecedented challenges presented to our Boards related to COVID-19 school closures. On May 26, 2020, Governor Murphy announced that outdoor graduation ceremonies would be allowed on and after July 6, 2020. Governor Murphy noted that the New Jersey Department of Education would issue guidance on May 27, 2020. On May 27, 2020, Department of Education issued a broadcast, with a link to memo regarding outdoor graduations. On May 28, 2020, the Department of Education issued updated guidance. The guidance contained the following information:
- Local school districts may have virtual; drive-through/drive-in; and modified in-person, outdoor ceremonies.
- Modified in-person, outdoor ceremonies may only occur on or after July 6, 2020.
- These ceremonies must meet the relevant capacity limitation on in-person gatherings in place at the time of the ceremony.
- Depending on the social distancing requirements in place at the time of the ceremony, varying restrictions will apply.
- Virtual ceremonies and drive- through/drive-in ceremonies that are otherwise compliant with Executive Order No. 142 may occur at any time.
- School districts that plan to hold modified in-person ceremony must certify to the NJDOE, via an online submission form that will be made available on June 5, 2020 on https://covid19.nj.gov/, that their planned ceremony will comply with applicable requirements for gatherings, including those addressing social distancing.
- The form must be submitted no later than seven days prior to the scheduled date of the ceremony.
- Districts should keep municipal officials, including the local Office of Emergency Management, local law enforcement, first responders, and local health officials informed of their plans for ceremonies.
The full updated Broadcast can be found here: https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2020/may/27/COVID-19 – Update on New Jersey Commencement Ceremonies.pdf
The above referenced Broadcast also links to another Department of Education guidance document, which should be considered and can be found here:
https://www.nj.gov/education/covid19/boardops/commencement.shtml
Our e-mails about recent developments are not intended to substitute for our legal advice to our clients based on your specific needs or requests. In addition, our guidance is subject to, and can be superseded by new laws, rules, regulations, or orders. Moreover, some directives from the Federal and State authorities can appear, and can be, contradictory or in conflict, so please contact us for assistance.
