Two Tennessee excessive colleges are going through backlash after pushing forward with out of doors commencement ceremonies in torrential rain, leaving college students and households soaked and livid.
College students at Centennial Excessive Faculty and Franklin Excessive Faculty trudged throughout the stage within the pouring rain Thursday night time as relations sat via a drenching downpour to look at their family members develop into highschool graduates, WSMV reported.
“As quickly as they began talking, it began pouring,” Victoria Burls, whose daughter Gabriella graduated from Centennial Excessive Faculty, instructed the outlet.
Burls mentioned the rain acquired so unhealthy that she was anxious about folks slipping within the bleachers.
“I used to be like nervous somebody was going to slide and fall down the bleachers, like all of the aged folks,” she mentioned.
Burls added that the climate was so unhealthy her daughter is already planning to redo her commencement images on the soccer area as a result of she was soaked after the ceremony.
Britney Garner, whose daughter Akyla spent hours preparing for the ceremony, went right down to the sector with an umbrella when the rain moved in and mentioned she believes the college ought to supply college students an opportunity to redo the occasion.
“My youngster who had put a lot into at the present time to make it particular, and was so excited, I may simply not stand to sit down there and see her get drowned like that,” Garner mentioned.
Centennial Excessive Faculty graduate Brooklynn Broadnax, who sang the nationwide anthem to kick off the ceremony, mentioned she had solely a poncho to guard her from the weather.
“I used to be carrying my promenade sneakers. My sneakers have been like puddles,” Broadnax instructed WTVF.
The rain additionally compelled elements of the ceremony to be scrapped totally — together with a deliberate second of silence for a classmate who died final 12 months.
“Penelope was going to graduate with us. We may at the least do a second of silence,” Broadnax mentioned.
Broadnax’s godmother, Michelle Wyatt, additionally questioned why the district proceeded with the out of doors ceremonies regardless of deteriorating climate situations.
“My concern is, you had aged who, primary, have been now put at risk due to the climate,” Wyatt mentioned. “There are puddles of water they’ll’t see. You run the chance of individuals falling.”
Following the ceremony, Wyatt vented her frustration on social media.
“Centennial Excessive Faculty is completely OUT OF ORDER!!! These kids deserved to have a commencement!!!!!” Wyatt wrote, after first congratulating her goddaughter.
Viral movies of scholars grabbing their diplomas within the pouring rain caught the eye of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who criticized the choice to carry the ceremonies outside.
“That is ridiculous. The college ought to have organized commencement indoors. The graduates and their households deserved a pleasant ceremony,” Greene wrote on X.
“By the way in which, their mother and father are tax payers that fund the college and administrator’s salaries. Being handled this manner shouldn’t be tolerated.”
Williamson County Faculty Superintendent Jason Golden acknowledged the rain made graduations at Centennial and Franklin difficult, however defended the out of doors setting, saying many faculties maintain ceremonies on soccer fields as a result of households discover it significant to rejoice on campus and since it permits extra family members to attend.
“Based mostly on forecasts and radar, we anticipated to finish final night time’s ceremonies at Centennial and Franklin earlier than the subsequent wave of rain started, however sadly, altering situations introduced rain in the course of the occasions,” Golden mentioned in a press release, based on WSMV.
“Whereas the rain impacted these two ceremonies, it couldn’t diminish our satisfaction in our Centennial and Franklin graduates.”
