Katy ISD announced additional information May 30 for graduation ceremonies in an update to the class of 2020.
Each graduate will receive four guest tickets and two parking tags, per the update.
To follow the Texas Education Agency’s graduation guidance, each group of guests will sit together in a designated spot 6 feet from other guest groups.
Guests and graduates can begin arriving for the 8 p.m. ceremonies at 6:45 p.m., per the update. Guests are allowed to bring stadium seats but are prohibited from bringing balloons, signs larger than two feet by two feet, flowers, banners, laser pointers or noisemakers, such as airhorns.
Additional information about what items guests can and cannot bring is available in the update.
More instructions with maps regarding which entrances to use and where to sit will be provided with the tickets distributed in a grab-and-go process June 11, per the update. Campuses are providing information to graduates about the pickup process, according to a previous update.
A livestream of the outdoor ceremonies will be available for those who are unable to attend, according to the update. The district will publish a link to the livestream on its website.
Update 9:05 a.m. May 28
In a May 27 update, Katy ISD released the schedule for graduation ceremonies, all of which are to be held at 8 p.m. at Legacy Stadium.
- June 17: Mayde Creek High School
- June 18: Cinco Ranch High School
- June 19: Seven Lakes High School
- June 20: Morton Ranch High School
- June 21: Tompkins High School
- June 23: Paetow High School
- June 24: Katy High School
- June 25: Taylor High School
Additionally, on June 11, graduates can begin picking up ceremony tickets, programs and parking tags for the event, per the update. Campuses will communicate additional information about the grab-and-go process. The update did not say how many tickets or parking tags each graduate will receive.
Additional information about the ceremonies will come May 29, per the update.
Update: 8:04 a.m. May 27
After nearly a 25-minute discussion at the end of the regular May 26 board meeting, Katy ISD trustees agreed the district should host outdoor voluntary in-person graduation ceremonies at Legacy Stadium for high school seniors.
"We'll do this in June, and we'll be ready to go, and it'll be exciting," Superintendent Ken Gregorski said after the board provided their thoughts on the matter.
The tentative outdoor graduation plan proposes the ceremonies will be held at 8 p.m. over eight days, Gregorski said. If a ceremony is canceled due to rain or bad weather, the ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. the next day.
KISD previously announced a schedule for 10 ceremonies between June 20-26. The district also secured July backup dates. However, the exact dates for the outdoor ceremonies were not finalized during the board's discussion.
Trustees Dawn Champagne and Duke Keller—who, along with board President Courtney Doyle, have graduating seniors—urged for these dates to be selected soon.
“Hopefully, we can reach some kind of understanding of when this is going to be so people can make plans with their families, and the kids will know what the plan is," Keller said.
Other details, such as the number of guest tickets provided per student, have also not been finalized. Gregorski said additional details will be provided in the coming days.
Traditional in-person ceremonies at the Leonard E. Merrell Center are not possible this year under the guidelines issued by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency related to the coronavirus pandemic, Gregorski said.
Board members said they would prefer an outdoor ceremony over a virtual graduation ceremony, which was another option proposed.
Masks will likely not be mandatory at the outdoor ceremonies, though the district will provide masks if guests or graduates would like one, Gregorski said. Administration will work on a plan to ensure social distancing among attendees and graduates.
For those who do not want to attend, a livestream of the ceremonies will be provided, Gregorski said.
Doyle stressed that though the district is making these plans now, the state can overrule these plans.
“Let’s move forward and pray that hopefully there are no changes between now and our June graduation dates that we have held so we can get these kiddos graduated and celebrated," she said.
