by Chloe Jordan | tech editor
Graduation will occur on May 31 at 2:00 p.m. at the Alamodome.
“So, right now, and this could change, but right now, based on the city policies – the Alamodome is run by the city – we don’t get to dictate what they’re going to do as far as how many seats and what procedures the city says to take place. Right now, we can have up to six tickets per graduate,” Principal Gary Comalander. “We’re still building the app, but we’ll have it ready before long.”
Tickets for graduation are free, but parking costs $20, including for graduates. Tickets are sold online in blocks of two, four, and six. Seats around sections of families are already blocked off and can’t be bought.
“So, it keeps the separation from family pod to family pod,” Comalander said. “Masks will be required by everybody coming inside, and the city will be taking everybody’s temperature coming in. If anyone comes in with a temperature of 100 or higher, they would unfortunately not be let in.”
The school is working with Alamodome to see if pooling the extra tickets is feasible.
“The main thing that the Alamodome wants, and what we want, is families not to mix. You sit in pods. They’re your group. So that’s really our only concern,” Comalander said. “There’s not a whole lot we can do if somebody does share within their six, but each student will have six tickets to use on that online system.”
Alamodome was chosen for graduation because the Freeman Coliseum did not guarantee availability on graduation day.
“Alamodome is not that situation. We’ve done a contract and we are good to go, so that is by far the main reason,” Comalander said. “The second reason is UTSA and Northside have been having their graduations there, before last year. The previous year too, they did a really good job. It was bigger, which kind of spreads it out more, than Freeman where you were a little closer to the action, per say. It was bigger, but they did a really nice job, so we’re excited about that.”
About 750-760 seniors are expected to graduate, which is a slightly bigger number than last year. Graduation will last an hour and a half, compared to previous two-hour graduations.
“There will be somewhere between 30-45 minutes beforehand that people will come in and get seated, and then literally the entire place needs to be cleaned before the next graduation, and they’re having three per day, so it’ll be busy for about two to three weeks,” Comalander said.
A campus summa graduate ceremony gave seniors an opportunity to gather for a memorable event. Now, graduation will give seniors and their families another chance to celebrate.
“It is a step getting back to that because that’s where we hope we are next August, much closer to everything being normal,” Comalander said. “It’s been a lucky year to get to do a lot of things with our fine arts and athletics and UIL competitions, even though there’s been restrictions there, everyone has been able to compete with whatever it is they do, so far this year. Last August, most of us didn’t think that would happen. I think it’s going to be exciting.”
For more information on graduation go to https://www.neisd.net/Page/2745.
