County Council Approves Amended Board of Health Regulation on Graduation Ceremonies
This morning the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a Fourth Amended Board of Health Regulation to prevent the spread of COVID19 in the county. The amendment, which is listed below, focuses on guidelines for school graduations.
Fourth Amended Board of Health Regulation
The Fourth Amended Board of Health Regulation, if adopted, would add guidance for
school graduation ceremonies. The guidance would include the following infectious disease
controls:
1. the total number of persons present at an outdoor graduation ceremony must be
limited to 50% of the outdoor venue’s maximum occupancy;
2. 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;
3. the total number of persons present at an indoor graduation ceremony is limited to
25% of the maximum occupancy or 250 people, whichever is smaller;
4. 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;
5. a record of everyone attending the graduation must be kept for 30 days to enable
contact tracing;
6. the school must identify a point of contact for an attendee to notify if they test
positive for COVID-19 within 2 weeks after the event, and the point of contact must
notify DHHS within 1 business day of notice of a positive test;
7. no more than 10 persons can be on the stage at one time;
8. the ceremony must last no more than 2 hours;
9. members of the audience from different households must remain at least 6 feet apart
at all times;
10. signage explaining the infectious control requirements must be posted at the venue;
11. no group or staged photography;
12. no congregating or gathering in common areas both inside and outside of the venue
before or after the ceremony;
13. 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;
14. diplomas must be distributed without handshakes or physical contact; and
15. no food or beverage concessions at the ceremony.
You can download this, and all previous amendments here.
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