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Graduation in July: Hillsborough and Sarasota County schools hope to host in-person ceremonies

Sarasota County is also exploring the opportunity to host a senior dance in July as well.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Students in Florida will be online learning for the rest of the school year.

For seniors, that has been a hard pill to swallow, “I wasn’t ready for high school to be over," explained Malakai Matthews, a senior at Sarasota High School.

For seniors, e-learning through the end of the year means missing out on a lot. “Me and my friends have been talking about it since freshmen year. Oh, grad bash, prom, graduating and everything, like it’s exciting. And like it is all taken away,” said Ronald Marshall Jr., a senior at Middleton High School.

Now, seniors are hopeful that their fate is changing. Hillsborough County Schools are planning to host in-person graduations in July. “It will be one thing we get to keep. The most important thing. So yeah, I definitely got excited. Like, there’s still a chance," said a hopeful Marshall Jr. 

Sarasota County schools announced the same Wednesday.

“What I’m holding onto is just the simple fact that there is going to be something to begin with," said Matthews. "There was definitely a point where I thought… that this was it. That was literally it. Like they were going to forget about us."

Now, seniors already looking forward to a July graduation ceremony, and for Sarasota County schools, potentially prom.

“We’re going to have to switch our prom-posals to drive-by, car style I guess. I mean the prom-posals I know I was personally planning to do something big and cheesy in the cafeteria or something. But the whole asking your date to prom is going to be different," said Matthews. "But it’s a breath of fresh air.”

Both Hillsborough County Schools and Sarasota County Schools have said they will have to adjust the in-person graduation ceremonies if the CDC does not change their current summer guidelines to allow gatherings of more than 50 people.

Pinellas County Schools are currently deciding between an in-person and digital graduation.

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