NEW WASHINGTON — Like other area districts, graduation was a topic of conversation at the Buckeye Central Local Schools Board of Education meeting Thursday evening.
Buckeye Central’s graduation ceremony is set for Wednesday, June 17 at 6:30 p.m.
“What we have been able to organize and plan, while it’s not the traditional ceremony, it’s pretty darn close,” high school principal Dr. Mike Martin said. “We’ve been able to make it unique with some of the things we are bringing in, and I think that the ceremony will leave everyone feeling satisfied with it.”
The school will be using the professional media firm, Rock the House, out of the Greater Cleveland Area, which was involved in the Democratic National Convention in 2015 to cover this year’s graduation ceremony.
Also during the meeting, guidelines for reopening indoor and outdoor facilities will be released soon after Gov. Mike DeWine lifted orders against the usage of those facilities.
The Buckeye Central administration is hoping to have the indoor facilities open beginning on June 1 and outdoor facilities next week on May 26. Administrators are not going to allow outside groups in, such as dance troops and other organizations until they get a better feel on how they can handle the Buckeye Central community.
Superintendent Mark Robinson thanked the BC community for its work during the school shut down.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t say thank you to all of the teachers, the classified staff, the administrative team, students, parents, and the entire Buckeye Central community for what I see as a very smooth two months that we have had,” Robinson said. “Overall, I think it’s been very smooth, and maybe it’s even gone over better than expected—we’ve learned a lot and if we get into a difficult situation next year, I do think that we’ve learned enough that it’s going to be better. But I can’t say thank you enough to all of those groups. Everybody has stepped up to the plate and done their jobs, and I’m just very proud of our school community, so thank you to everyone.”
The facilities project is reopened and back underway. On the south end, crews poured the floor and have most of the exterior walls up for the new preschool wing. They believe it is a reasonable goal to have the kindergarten rooms available to use around Sept. 8. The foundation for the new bus garage will begin within the next few weeks and is expected to be done around the end of July.
The next board meeting is June 25 at 7 p.m. and is planned to be in person.