Some details about graduation ceremonies for Bryan County High School and Richmond Hill School are still being decided, yet officials have announced when and where.
Both graduations are on the morning of Saturday, May 22. But while BCHS graduation will be at the Redskins’ football stadium in Pembroke, RHHS’ commencement exercise will take place at Glynn County Stadium – about an hour south of Richmond Hill in Brunswick.
The reason? It’s the only venue big enough due to COVID-19 restrictions, Bryan County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher told school board members at their monthly work session Thursday night in Richmond Hill.
Glynn County Stadium seats slightly more than 12,000, which officials said should provide enough room to allow the 2021 graduation class of about 566 students to invite guests -- though how many tickets each graduate will receive was still undecided Thursday, as was what time the ceremonies will take place.
By contrast, COVID-19 restrictions has limited seating at the Savannah Civic Center in Savannah – which has been the site of graduations for both schools for several years – to 1,300, Brooksher said. In the past, RHHS graduation ceremonies have filled the 6,000 seat Savannah Civic Center to capacity and left hundreds of people standding outside.
Brooksher and assistant superintendent Jason Rogers said Thursday night they thought it important students be able to celebrate the occasion with family, friends and classmates attending, and so also contacted venues at Georgia Southern and on Jekyll Island looking for a spot at which to hold the RHHS graduation.
They also apparently and briefly considered holding it at RHHS, but that would have required multiple graduation ceremonies, Brooksher said, even with drastically limiting the number of guests each student could invite.
Last year, RHHS and BCHS held drive through graduations on campus.
This year, both graduation ceremonies will be livestreamed. More details will be released later by the respective school principals, Brooksher said.
As for the distance, he noted the drive to Brunswick may be longer in mileage, but getting into Savannah on a Saturday morning for graduations can take as long or longer to drive because of the heavy traffic.