Mayor: Extreme heat sickens Paterson high school graduation attendees
The mayor said about two dozen people were treated for heat-related illness during the ceremony for JFK High School. Four of them were taken to the hospital.
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Graduation day in Paterson for hundreds of high school students had to be called off mid-ceremony Monday afternoon when people started falling ill due to the extreme heat.
The ceremony was taking place at Hinchliff Stadium for five Paterson high schools.
Students, in full caps and gowns, were drenched as they walked out of Hinchliffe Stadium as the announcement was made to end the graduation.
Some, along with their relatives on hand to celebrate, were being pulled off the field in stretchers and taken to a makeshift cooling center before being placed inside an ambulance.
“You had 50 people who needed treatment on the scene and nine were transported to the hospital,” said Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh.
Senior Ciarra Bailey was graduating from Rosa Parks Arts High School, but because the ceremony was cut short, she didn’t receive her diploma.
“It was exhausting. I couldn’t breathe, like my chest hurts. They gave us a lot of water, but it wasn’t enough, honestly," said Bailey.
Of the five schools at the afternoon ceremony, only students from East Side High School received their diplomas.
Sayegh signed an order declaring a state of emergency after the ceremony was canceled.
He promised to speak to the school district about holding graduations in the evening going forward.
