PCH Senior Pirates and Families,
The events of Friday night were not what we hoped for, nor the celebration that our seniors earned through years of hard work, enthusiasm, and perseverance. For that, we are truly sorry, and not in the way that feels like a formality, but in the way that comes from knowing we let you down on one of the most important nights of your lives.
We have heard you, read your messages, listened to your phone calls, and sat with the weight of your frustration and disappointment through the weekend and today. Simply put, you deserved better, and what happened Friday could have been done better.
Administrators from across the District have spent the day listening and reviewing. We’ve reviewed what went wrong, how decisions were made and communicated, and how we can work to prevent this from happening again in the future. The rain was not in our control, but our response was.
In all, we believed we had a plan in place. But believing we had a plan and executing it are two different things. Some of what we prepared did not work the way it should have, and we own that and have already made changes going forward. The disruption and confusion that was felt that night was real, and we will not diminish that by saying, “We followed procedures.” We will say, again, that we hear you, empathize with you, and pledge to learn from this.
To our seniors, Friday night is not the measure of what you’ve accomplished. Your years of work, your growth, and what it means to walk across that stage do not belong to the weather or the evening surrounding it. It belongs to you.
We are proud of our Class of 2026, and we are sorry that it was overshadowed.
Sincerely,
-Ms. Taylor, Head Principal, Putnam City High School
-Putnam City Schools Administration