Pelham Memorial High School announced Thursday that its graduation will held on June 27—the pre-coronavirus date—as a drive-in ceremony at SUNY Purchase. Until the announcement, school officials had been hoping to arrange something in July.

“We are excited to announce that after months of planning and discussions, we will be able to have a drive-in car graduation to recognize the PMHS Class of 2020,” wrote Principal Jeanne Clark. “This graduation ceremony will be held at the campus of SUNY Purchase on June 27, 2020. This plan complies with Governor Cuomo’s executive order and is consistent with applicable social distancing guidelines, provided that students/families remain in their vehicles during the ceremony… We are in the final stages of planning this event and more details and information will be forthcoming shortly.”

There was apparently some confusion among parents and students because Superintendent of Schools Dr. Cheryl Champ included in her Friday email the following statement:

“To be clear, the drive-in graduation at SUNY Purchase on June 27 will be held instead of our previous plans for a July ceremony. Though we had hoped a ‘normal’ ceremony could take place later in the summer, the reality is we do not know if that would have ever been possible. Instead, we believed taking advantage of this opportunity now—allowing our graduates to be together via cars in accordance with the recently released state guidance, on the actual graduation day, was the best path forward. We look forward to sharing more details as plans are finalized.”