NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- New Albany-Floyd County Schools plans to host southern Indiana's first in-person graduation ceremonies amid COVID-19 on Saturday.

With social distancing the order of the day, it promises to be a commencement unlike any before, and some students said they're not sure they'll be attending.

One who will, though, is Tara Cropper, the valedictorian for New Albany High School's Class of 2020. She received her diploma in the mail earlier this week and said she's ready to take the stage, address the rest of her class and complete her high school experience. 

"I'm excited to finally get to graduate, even though it's a few months late," Cropper said. "It's just kind a congrats to the students and a thanks to the teachers — especially this year, having to transfer to online so fast." 

But some of her classmates may not be there to hear her big valedictorian speech.

"I'm still not sure whether I'm going to be in attendance or not, just because I don't want to risk catching it and bringing it home to my family members who are immunocompromised," said Sydney Byerly, another graduate. "And I don't want to get it and not be able to attend school in the fall."

Unlike other school districts, New Albany-Floyd County did not conduct an online commencement, choosing instead simply to delay graduation. Now, Floyd Central High School and New Albany High School will each host two ceremonies a piece on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Each school is doing it twice to reduce crowd, and students are asked to attend both ceremonies. Students are limited to inviting four guests each, and masks are mandatory for all attendees.

It's a decision graduate Caleb Alstott admits has left him "kind of nervous."

"I'm not making my parents go," he said. "I'm giving the tickets to my sister  and her husband. I don't want to put my parents at risk in a gym for a few hours with a bunch of other people."

The Floyd County Health Department approved the plan.

"Our goal is not to prevent society from happening," said Dr. Tom Harris of the Floyd County Health Department. "What we're trying to do is prevent the spread of disease and let people do the things they want to do as long as it's a reasonable thing."

Some are questioning how the commencement can still move forward after Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb paused the state's reopening plan this week. But while his Back-on-Track plan caps social gathering at 250 people, it does allow for venues to operate at 50% capacity.

Others stressed caution after parent sponsored prom events over the weekend. Health officials said there have been new COVID-19 cases tied to some of those events. 

"There are a handful of positive cases of people who attended one or more of those events and there were multiple events in Clark and Floyd county," Harris said. "The bigger the crowd, the higher the risk. So the mask use is essential to this type of event."

The school district also plans to stream its graduation ceremonies online for those who don't attend in person.

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