Student petition to postpone CBE graduation ceremonies nears 10,000 signatures

Petition to postpone grad ceremonies A petition has been launched asking the CBE to postpone graduation ceremonies rather than cancel them.

Calgary — Two Grade 12 Winston Churchill HIgh School Students, disappointed with the Calgary Board of Education's decision to cancel graduation ceremonies, started a petition to let the board know just that.

"I think it was a shock to a lot of us. When I initially viewed the email I really thought that CBE was considering postponing it," Taqwa Hossain said.

She said she was told by numerous teachers and staff that the graduation ceremony would be postponed.

Sukriti Sharma said she doesn’t understand why they would cancel when there are other options.

"The Calgary Catholic school boards postponed their graduation ceremonies, so we were just confused why CBE couldn’t be innovative about it as well," she said.

The duo said they are disappointed by the lack of innovation and communication that led to the decision to cancel ceremonies.

Sharma said it’s obvious COVID-19 concerns come first but for her and her peers "graduation is a huge milestone in our lives and it’s something we will remember forever."

The hopeful grads say they would be happy to postpone until next year and even do a cohort grad with the class of 2021. But at this point it feels like they’re being overlooked.

"To the student and parent community, it seems like they’re taking the easy way out, they didn’t really bother with us." Sharma said.

As the online petition nears 10,000 signatures, Hossain and Sharma said they hope it sends a message to the board.

"I’m hoping that they’ll understand our perspective and at least try to empathize with us," Hossain said.

"It means so much to students, it means so much to their parents, so I’m hoping they can reconsider and just sit down together and take a second look at it."

In a statement, Calvin Davies, an education director with the CBE, said now is not an ideal time to make decisions.

"Once we are able to say 'hello' and greet one another in a more typical fashion, we will see what our context is like on the other side of the pandemic. At that point, we’ll be in a position to make informed decision," he said.