Members of the Jamestown High School Class of 2020 are pictured during last year’s graduation ceremony. P-J file photo

Officials with the Jamestown Public Schools District would like to see the maximum capacity for its high school graduation ceremony expanded by state officials.

The Jamestown Board of Education passed a resolution at its Tuesday meeting to send a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Howard Zucker, state health commissioner, asking for the maximum capacity limitations for graduation be aligned with what the state requires for sporting events.

According to the letter signed by Paul Abbott, school board president, the current graduation celebration restriction is 200 people outdoors and 100 people indoors, with all attendees needing to show proof of vaccination or of a negative test if more than the maximum is in attendance.

Sporting event restrictions under state guidelines allow for 500 unvaccinated or untested spectators outside and 250 unvaccinated or untested spectators inside.

“We’re not in the business of trying to refuse entry to someone’s graduation,” Dr. Kevin Whitaker, Jamestown superintendent, told The Post-Journal. “We’re trying to make it as inclusive as possible. We’re trying to make it for as many people as possible.”

Whittaker said if the district is limited to the 200 people maximum, there will probably be multiple graduation ceremonies held at Strider Field. He said if the maximum is increased to 500, the district will be able to hold two graduation ceremonies at the amphitheater at the Chautauqua Institution. He added if the district is allowed to have more than 500 people, then there will be just one ceremony at the amphitheater.

“We’re trying to avoid confrontations at the door,” he said. “We’re trying to have relatives and parents be part of their child’s graduation.”

Whitaker said roughly 300 people will be graduating from Jamestown High School this year. He said the state at first issued guidelines that graduates would be part of the count for the ceremony. However, he said new guidance was issued by the state that doesn’t count the graduates if they can be separated from the audience.

“We’ve figured out how to not have the graduates count,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker said, after last year’s graduation was altered because of COVID-19, he would hate to have another ceremony changed by the pandemic.

“We’ve learned a lot during the last 15 moths. (State officials) should follow the science and allow seniors to have this experience,” he said. “We’ve already seen the struggles of a pandemic lock down last year. We don’t want to see a second one.”