Rain can't dampen graduation: Tennessee graduates cross flooded football field to collect diplomas

For most high school seniors, graduation night is a rite of passage years in the making. For the class of 2026 at Centennial High School and Franklin High School in Williamson County, Tennessee, it was also a survival test. Heavy rains Thursday night (May 21) did not stop high school graduations in Williamson County.

Both Centennial High School and Franklin High School read the names of their graduating class in a torrential downpour, with students dressed in caps and gowns walking across the stage as the rain fell. "As soon as they started speaking, it started pouring," Victoria Burls, a parent of a Centennial graduate told news outlet WSMV. Her daughter Gabriella was one of many students who faced the elements to collect her diploma. While spirits stayed high, safety was on everyone's mind. "I was like nervous someone was going to slip and fall down the bleachers, like all the elderly people," Burls said.

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Centennial High School is located in the Nashville suburb of Franklin. The school enrolls around 1,400 students in grades 9 through 12, and more than 90 per cent of every freshman class graduates as seniors, with over 80 per cent going on to attend a four-year college.

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Questions quickly emerged over why the ceremonies were not moved indoors. The forecast made it clear that rain was expected, raising concerns about what could happen if someone slipped and fell, particularly for girls wearing high heels.

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The school district pushed back on criticism, insisting the decision was made in good faith. Williamson County School Superintendent Jason Golden said the district knows the rain made the graduations at Centennial and Franklin challenging.

He said many schools hold ceremonies on football fields because students and families have shared how meaningful it is to celebrate the milestone on campus, and because it allows more loved ones to attend. "Based on forecasts and radar, we expected to complete last night's ceremonies at Centennial and Franklin before the next wave of rain began, but unfortunately, changing conditions brought rain during the events," Golden told WSMV.

"While the rain impacted those two ceremonies, it could not diminish our pride in our Centennial and Franklin graduates," Golden added. For many graduates, the soggy send-off has already become the stuff of legend. Some families said many of the festivities that come with the special day are having to take a rain check, with at least one graduate already planning to redo her graduation photos. Diplomas may have been waterlogged, but the class of 2026 walked across that field anyway, and that, perhaps, is the only fitting end to twelve years of showing up.