Academy District 20 students weigh in on graduation options

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- With May fast approaching, the status of many high school graduation ceremonies is still up in the air. 

Academy District 20 in Colorado Springs is making sure students' voices are heard before any decisions on the ceremony are made. 

Students in the district can now weigh in on what they want their graduation to look like through an online forum on the district's website.

So far, officials with District 20 say they've received suggestions across the board.

Some students have suggested having a completely virtual graduation, where speeches are pre-recorded and they can celebrate all from within the comfort and safety of their home. 

Others are asking that graduation be pushed back until after the stay-at-home order is lifted so that it can still happen in person. 

The district says it is still open to the possibility of holding traditional graduation ceremonies, but there's a lot more to take into consideration other than the stay-at-home order being lifted. 

"All of the high schools locally have their graduation in one place: the Broadmoor World Arena. So right now, we are all scrambling to push those ceremonies back and have dates available to us in July, or even August, that work for everyone", says Allison Cortez, Director of Communications with Academy District 20.

The forum will close on Friday. 

The district says they plan to review the submissions and head in the direction of whatever the majority of students want, while also considering the stay-at-home order and when it is lifted.

In the meantime, the district says they've adjusted attendance and grading policies since moving to e-learning. Students, including seniors, can still raise their grade through e-learning, but cannot lower it more than 5%.