On Wednesday, April 1st, the Long Beach Unified School District announced the closure of all LBUSD schools for the rest of the academic year. Along with this closure, it has also been announced that LBUSD graduations for the Class of 2020 will not proceed as planned and will most likely be a virtual graduation. 

We are writing this petition in hopes that the LBUSD Board of Education will consider the voices of students and families who would much rather have this important milestone postponed to the next possible date after the pandemic has concluded instead of a virtual graduation.

An overwhelming majority of seniors and their families have expressed that they would prefer a postponed graduation rather than a virtual graduation. This momentous occasion cannot be replicated through virtual means. One of the main reasons for this is because not everyone has access to the technology or internet required for a virtual graduation. This would pose a barrier for low-income students who do not have access to these materials. For many of these students, high school graduation is of high significance — it represents achievement in the face of adversity, and is often a way for students to repay sacrifices made by their families. Some students are also the first in their families to graduate, adding even more significance to this ceremony. This pandemic brought an abrupt end to the school year, leaving many seniors without proper recognition for their accomplishments. Rather than allowing coronavirus to dictate the end of these students’ high school careers, the postponement of graduation would provide hope and a proper sense of closure. It would also allow seniors to come together one last time before ultimately moving on to the next part of their lives.

We are not requesting any specific date, as we understand the state of the pandemic is unpredictable and always changing. We are simply asking that the graduation be postponed to the next plausible and safe future date. No matter when this graduation occurs, the Class of 2020 will appreciate the second chance to celebrate this rite of passage in many young students’ lives.

In the words of Tiffany Brown, the Assistant Superintendent of LBUSD, “graduation is really a symbol of the completion of a significant life event and it’s one that families get to celebrate together with their students. We have a number of students in Long Beach every year who graduate… the very first one in their family to graduate from high school, and so there’s just tremendous significance around this event.” This very reason is why we are asking the LBUSD Board of Education to postpone the Class of 2020’s graduation.