Hamilton school board cancels Grade 12 graduation ceremonies

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Published April 23, 2020 at 12:27 pm

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has cancelled Grade 12 graduations in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has cancelled Grade 12 graduations in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter sent to parents and students on Wednesday (April 22), the public school board said that they would be looking at potentially holding grad ceremonies in the Fall.

“We all recognize that Grade 12 can be a challenging year for students and the many changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic have created additional challenges,” the letter states.

“No student will have their graduation compromised by COVID-19 and it is our priority to support Grade 12 students through to graduation.”

To this end, the board says in the letter that the Ministry of Education collaborated with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to ensure there will be no barriers for graduating students to access post-secondary education.

As a result, a number of requirements has been waived:

  • Waiving the graduation requirement of 40 hours of volunteer service
  • Waiving the requirement to successfully complete the Grade 10 Literacy Test requirements
  • Graduating students in a Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program unable to complete their SHSM requirements will be supported through the override request process
  • Ensuring that midterm marks for Grade 12 students are available to colleges and universities for admissions and that those are based on work done before March 13, as well as providing an opportunity for students to submit any missed and/or additional assignments to demonstrate their learning.
  • Final report card marks will be reported in June 2020.

The letter concludes by acknowledging the challenges of distance learning for many students and said that they “are not expected to be online with your classmates for 75-minute periods.

“We hope you continue to communicate with your teachers, guidance counsellors, Special Education staff and ESL/ELD teachers to ask for the support you need to be successful.”

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