A high school in Burlington County is limiting graduating seniors to only having one guest at Friday’s in-person graduation, leaving some frustrated with having to choose who to bring.
More than 200 students will be graduating at Delran High School and students are only being given one ticket each.
“My dad is still very, very, very upset that he can’t go,” says student Maria Butler.
Butler says that she and other students are frustrated that the senior class wasn’t included in the decision made by school administrators.
But the district has 218 graduating students. With one guest each, that is over 400 people in attendance. Gov. Phil Murphy has placed a 500-person limit on outdoor gatherings.
“I understand with the coronavirus we can’t have a lot of people there, but I think we should have divided our graduation so that both our parents could be there,” says Butler.
But fellow student Luke Arcaini says that he is OK with the restrictions because he would rather have his entire class together for graduation. He says that his mom will be his guest.
“My dad is ready to watch it. Dad, brother and sister are all ready to watch it from home,” he says.
In a statement, the Delran School District says, "We truly believe that while it was a hard decision to make, the limitation on the number of guests ultimately enables the District to recognize the important milestone of graduation, while at the same time, is in compliance with State and local laws, directives, orders, etc."
While the graduation ceremony is set for Friday, Butler says that there is talk of a protest on social media.
“I think they should protest, but like they said, I don’t think they should do it on school property, because it is going to ruin our graduation if they do,” says Butler.
“I wish both my parents could be there and I wish my whole family could be there, but this is the decision that was made and people just need to accept it at this point,” says Arcaini.
The Delran seniors were supposed to graduate in mid-June. The board of education and administrators hand-delivered diplomas to all the graduates that day.