While it takes effort to become a graduate, a school graduation ceremony is usually the easy part.

But as schools approach another June under the cloud of the coronavirus pandemic, some administrators are waiting to see what conditions — and Clatsop County’s case metrics — are like closer to the date before they lay concrete plans. Others anticipate graduation events similar to last year’s socially distanced, drive-thru ceremonies.

Seaside School District will replicate the drive-thru ceremony it held last year, complete with a parade down Broadway Street to a vehicle turnaround at the beach where graduates received their diplomas. The district will then hold a formal ceremony at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center parking lot.

“We know that is doable under any metrics that we see,” said Jeff Roberts, the Seaside High School principal. Also, he added, the drive-thru event was “incredibly well-received by graduates last year.”

Students this year specifically requested it for their commencement ceremony.

Clatsop Community College recently announced it would hold a commencement ceremony at CMH Field in Astoria on June 18.

The field will also likely be the site of the Astoria High School graduation, Superintendent Craig Hoppes said, though he isn’t sure yet exactly what the ceremony will look like. He hopes it can be a bit more intimate than last year’s graduation, a drive-in ceremony where students and their families spent much of the time in their cars and at a great distance from each other.

Still, Hoppes expects some social distancing will still be necessary in June, too.

In other school districts, there have been preliminary discussions about what graduation ceremonies might look like this year but nothing final.

The rural Jewell School District is considering different possible graduation ceremony scenarios for a June 19 event depending on the county’s risk level.

While specifics are still hazy, Principal Jon Wood said, “We are going to do something and it’s going to be more traditional than last year.”

The hope is to be back in the low-risk category again and have a “more normal” event, he said.

Last year, the graduation ceremony for Warrenton High School students required months of planning. In a normal year, the ceremony would not take nearly so much preparation: there would be a rehearsal the day before and then the actual event.

Fortunately, high school staff told The Astorian, they’ve gone through a pandemic graduation once and have a better idea now of what to do.

“Worst-case scenario is we do what we did last year,” said Josh Jannusch, the Warrenton High School principal. The pregraduation parade through downtown Warrenton and then the drive-thru ceremony were successful, he said, and well-received by families and students.

In Knappa, the high school is looking at using, ideally, the gym — for a more traditional ceremony — or the high school football field — if capacity is an issue and case numbers are high. It is possible to livestream events at both locations, noted Laurel Smalley, high school administrator.

Still, what the ceremony looks like, where it is held and how many people can attend will depend on the situation in the county just ahead of the June event, Smalley added.

“We’re trying to think ahead,” she said. “If COVID’s done anything, it’s made us think ahead.”