Veteran Mike Petschel (front right) and other military servicemembers stand for recognition during graduation, Dec. 15 at the Colorado Convention Center, Denver. Petschel started the Boots to Suits program to align veterans in school with real-world executives in their fields to employ the students after graduation. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

AURORA | Aurora Public Schools could hold graduation ceremonies in July, Superintendent Rico Munn said Tuesday night during an online school board meeting.

“Could” is the key word, officials say, since no one knows how long statewide restrictions on large public gatherings could go go on because of the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis.

School board members met Tuesday night a week after the some 37,000-student district switched to online-based learning.

Munn said he expects governments to extend stay-at-home orders past the April 26 deadline most recently decided Monday by Gov. Jared Polis. The district joined Cherry Creek schools and other metro-area school systems in closing buildings for the remainder of the school year and switching to online learning plans.

Another casualty of the pandemic is the spring graduation season. Munn called graduation a right of passage and lamented they could not proceed, at least not for a few months. Students likely won’t be able to retrieve personal items from school lockers at least until the statewide stay-at-home order expires, Munn said.

While giving an update to the school board, Munn also said the district’s food service program had served 160,000 meals in just a few weeks of operation. The district program is open to kids and adults.