Montgomery County issues guidance for in-person graduation ceremonies
ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Montgomery County Council has voted on guidance for in-person graduation ceremonies.
The vote came on Tuesday and includes restrictions on the numbers of people present, the number of people on stage and he duration of the ceremony.
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The following guidance will now be in place:
- the total number of persons present at an outdoor graduation ceremony must be limited to 50 percent of the outdoor venue’s maximum occupancy
- if an outdoor venue does not have a formal certificate of occupancy, 40 square feet per person must be used to calculate the occupancy limit
- the total number of persons present at an indoor graduation ceremony is limited to 25 percent of the maximum occupancy or 250 people, whichever is smaller
- a school that plans an indoor graduation ceremony must obtain a Letter of Approval for their plan showing how it would meet the general requirements of the regulation
- a record of everyone attending the graduation must be kept for 30 days to enable contact tracing
- the school must identify a point of contact for an attendee to notify if they test positive for COVID-19 within two weeks after the event, and the point of contact must notify the County's Department of Health and Human Services within one business day of notice of a positive test
- no more than 10 people can be on the stage at one time
- the ceremony must last no more than two hours
- members of the audience from different households must remain at least six feet apart at all times
- signage explaining the infectious control requirements must be posted at the venue
- no group or staged photography
- no congregating or gathering in common areas both inside and outside of the venue before or after the ceremony
- a masked speaker must be at least 12 feet from the audience and an unmasked speaker must be at least 18 feet from the audience
- diplomas must be distributed without handshakes or physical contact
- no food or beverage concessions at the ceremony
The new guidance goes into effect Tuesday.