Shawnee Mission cancels in-person graduation. So parents at one school plan their own

High school seniors this year missed out on spring sports, musicals, prom and more due to the coronavirus pandemic. And in the Shawnee Mission school district, they learned just last week they’re missing a traditional graduation ceremony as well.

But parents at one school are hoping to make it up to the seniors.

Officials had scheduled outdoor, in-person ceremonies July 14-16 for all the district’s high schools, but last week canceled those plans, saying the risk of COVID-19 transmission was too great. The district will host virtual ceremonies.

Now, Shawnee Mission East High School parents are organizing a socially distanced graduation instead by renting out the Boulevard Drive-In Theater on Tuesday evening.

“Everyone is so grateful that their kids get to put on their cap and gown and get to actually have some sort of closure for this really weird senior year that did not end the way it should have,” said one of the parent organizers. She asked to remain anonymous because of concerns “about negative reactions from some people” and to protect graduates.

Last month, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools hosted drive-in graduations at the Boulevard Drive-In Theater for all high schools in the district. Shawnee Mission East’s event is not district-sponsored.

The organizers sent emails to the seniors’ parents last week announcing the last-minute event, and 160 students of the 400-person class had registered as of Monday morning.

“At the drive-in, we’re able to be in our cars and distanced but be together in some form, which is something this class has missed out on,” the parent organizer said.

The seniors will line up in small groups six feet apart to have their photos taken. They’ll be shown on the theater’s big screen while their names are announced.

After dark, the district’s virtual ceremony will be shown on the screen.

Participants must wear face masks outside of cars. The organizers have ordered Shawnee Mission East masks for seniors.

Attendees will split the drive-in’s rental cost.

Elsewhere in Johnson County, the Olathe and Blue Valley school districts are planning outdoor socially distanced events, where they’ll limit guests, require masks and space out seniors.