TEXARKANA - Seniors at two Texarkana high schools will pick up their caps and gowns this week, although when, and if, they get to wear them is uncertain.
Texas High School seniors will pick up their caps and gowns beginning at 11 a.m. today at the school's pick up/drop off line and Arkansas High students will pick theirs up Thursday in the parking lot behind the student union/cafeteria.
Graduation for Texas High is still scheduled for May 23, as schools are still set to reopen May 4 through a directive from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who closed the schools in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has closed schools through the end of the school year and Texarkana Arkansas School District officials are considering a tentative August ceremony for the 2020 seniors, district Public Relations Director Genia Bullock said. Graduation was originally set for May 14.
The final grade Arkansas students will receive will be what they had at the end of the third nine weeks, which ended March 13, Bullock said.
"Students in need of additional support will be accessed on an individual basis and will receive remediation and in some cases credit recovery," she said. Summer school will also not be required for those who do not complete the assigned work, Bullock added.
In Texas, school cancellation through the end of the year has not yet been discussed, said Tina Veal-Gooch, Texarkana Independent School District's Executive Director of Public Relations. For promotion to the next grade, she said their students will promoted as they have in years past minus the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test results, which have been waived.
"A Grade Placement Committee will convene and make decisions for students who may fail," she said. "For graduation, TEA (Texas Education Agency) has established guidelines for this process. Those students who meet all the respective requirements for graduation will graduate. Students who are on the bubble of meeting graduation requirements will utilize the Individual Graduation Committee to determine if they will graduate as well."
Veal-Gooch added that they anticipate summer school to continue as usual and that decisions on graduation ceremonies will be made in the coming weeks.
"TISD is working hard to make sure we do all we can to make graduation a positive experience for our students and their families," she said.
Districts are expecting to receive more direction from the governor's office in the next week or so. In addition to Arkansas, the neighboring states of Oklahoma and Louisiana have canceled school for the year.