Du Quoin High School graduation, 8th grade promotion officially pushed to late July

Du Quoin High School graduation and the 8th grade promotion ceremony have officially been pushed into late July, District 300 Superintendent Matt Hickam said Thursday.

The district will choose a consecutive Friday and Saturday in July where they hope it will be possible to host a full commencement ceremony in Van Metre Field for the high school seniors, and a full promotion ceremony for 8th graders.

"Hopefully we can do what we normally do, but at least it will be something more than what we'd be able to do in a couple weeks," Hickam said. The high school graduation had been scheduled for May 15 and the 8th grade promotion for May 22.

Hickam said high school Principal Tim McChristian had a remote meeting with the Senior Class officers and senior members of the Student Senate, who agreed unanimously they preferred to delay commencement in hopes of having an in-person ceremony.

McChristian then emailed the rest of the senior class, letting them know the decision and giving them a chance to comment, Hickam said.

"We are all in the same boat - hopefully the more time we give this the more chance of holding something that looks like a traditional graduation," he added.

If by June it is evident there will still be restrictions on the size of group that can get together, they will modify it, he said.

The July weekend will be decided on and voted on by the school board at its May meeting, Hickam said.

Meanwhile, the district has decided to move summer school from June to July, although it's unclear if those classes will be done remotely or if students and teachers will gather in person.

And the district is still mulling what to do about the food program: Right now the Grab & Go bags are scheduled to end on May 20, the final day of remote learning, but they may decide to bridge the food program until when the summer food program kicks in, Hickam said.

At the most, he said, the program would take a short break between May 20 and when they fire up the summer program breakfasts and lunches - which normally are hot meals served inside the K-8 building cafeteria, but now it is unclear what form they would take.

Hickam said the summer food program will start in June even though summer school classes are pushed to July. He knows the audience for the District 300 food programs has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We'll have more participating that we have had, no question about that," Hickam said.