Screenshot WSMV via Victoria Burls
The graduation ceremony for two Tennessee high schools was held amid a torrential downpour on Thursday, soaking students and families.
The graduation ceremony for Centennial High School and Franklin High School went viral over the weekend, as images and videos showed graduates accepting diplomas at an outdoor ceremony while rain pelted down. In one recording that received widespread attention, filmed by X user @TheLucyShow1, a student sits placidly while his graduation cap and already soaking robe are hammered by the deluge.
“As soon as they started speaking, it started pouring,” mother Victoria Burls told WSMV.
Many parents questioned the school’s decision to hold the event outdoors on the school’s football field, despite the weather.
“My child who had put so much into this day to make it special, and was so excited, I could just not stand to sit there and see her get drowned like that,” mother Britney Garner told The New York Post, adding that the school should give graduates a chance to attend a make-up ceremony.
The outlet also reported that a planned moment of silence for a deceased classmate was skipped due to the rain.
“Penelope was going to graduate with us. We could at least do a moment of silence,” a student, Brooklynn Broadnax, said.
Broadnax’s godmother, Michelle Wyatt, expressed concern for older attendees, telling the post that they ” were now put in danger because of the weather,” a sentiment echoed by other parents in comments to news outlets.
“Centennial High School is totally OUT OF ORDER!!! These children deserved to have a graduation!!!!!” Wyatt wrote on social media after the event.
School superintendent Jason Golden released a statement about the ceremony, claiming that organizers had believed the rain would cease before the ceremony.
“We know the rain made Thursday night’s graduations at Centennial and Franklin challenging, and we appreciate the patience of our families. Each year, many of our schools choose to hold ceremonies on our football fields because students and families have shared how meaningful it is to celebrate this milestone on campus, and it allows more loved ones to attend,” he said. “Based on forecasts and radar, we expected to complete Thursday night’s ceremonies at Centennial and Franklin before the next wave of rain began, but unfortunately, changing conditions brought rain during the events.”
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) weighed in on Monday, calling the event “ridiculous.”
“This is ridiculous. The school should have organized graduation indoors. The graduates and their families deserved a nice ceremony,” she wrote. “By the way, their parents are tax payers that fund the school and administrator’s salaries. Being treated this way should not be tolerated.”
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