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Ripon High may relax grad requirements due to coronavirus
RHS grads

This school year has been like no other.

For that, the Ripon Unified school board could opt to relax the policy for graduation and eighth-grade promotions due to COVID-19 pandemic at Tuesday’s meeting.

The monthly session is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Ripon High School library, where some Trustees planning to attend in person while others doing so online.

The public will not be allowed inside in an effort to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

“The meeting will be available (to the public) via livestream in another classroom at the same location (RHS),” Superintendent Ziggy Robeson said.

She added: “Social distancing guidelines are to be practiced during this meeting which include, but may not be limited to deliberately increasing the physical space between people and staying at least six feet away from others.”

As for graduation, in terms of changes, high school students who complete their graduation requirements during the summer may be allowed to participate in the upcoming commencement exercises without receiving a diploma. This would be at the discretion of the superintendent or designee.

Those students who have passed a high school equivalency test of the California High School Proficiency Examination must also meet district graduation requirements in order to participate in the graduation ceremony.

In other agenda items:

  • A request to amend the dates for the timelines on the updated Facilities Master Plan Services due to COVID-19 by Director of Operation Andy Strickland and Chief Operations Officer Frank Jerome.
  • A recommendation from the RUSD Naming Committee to honor Pamela Cole with the “Pamela Cole Memorial Library” at Colony Oak Elementary School. She was a teacher at the school for 22 years and strongly supported literacy.
  • An approval is needed on academic calendars for the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 school years. Those involved in the process were certificated, classified, administrators and staff members – they spent several months providing input on the calendars, with the RUDTA and CSEA already voting on the final drafts.

For more information, log on to www.riponusd.net.