While high schools around Minnesota will be celebrating their graduating seniors this spring, the celebrations will look different thanks to COVID-19.

This week, the Minnesota Department of Education released graduation guidelines for schools, which prohibit indoor commencement ceremonies, as well as ceremonies in stadiums or on football fields.

The guidelines go along with the Minnesota Department of Health’s advice against holding large public gatherings, to slow the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Tim Walz said Friday.

“This pains me, like all of these decisions do,” Walz said in a media conference call Friday. Walz said he had pushed for a way to still hold graduations, like having smaller ceremonies. However, he said, “I need to listen to the health experts on this.”

The Department of Education’s graduation guidelines said in-person commencement ceremonies, whether in an auditorium or outside on a football field, are risky because they bring together people from multiple households. This increases the possibility of spreading the coronavirus, even if everyone practices social distancing. “These gatherings are not considered safe at any size and will not be permitted,” the guidelines said.

The new guidelines don’t prevent school districts from postponing their graduation ceremonies until later in the summer. But at the same time, the Department of Education said it couldn’t guarantee when large gatherings would be allowed again.

The guidelines also gave parameters for possible alternative ceremonies, like virtual graduations, car parades or drive-in ceremonies in a parking lot. If schools opt for a parade or a parking lot ceremony, participants should follow safety rules like keeping a six-foot distance apart and staying in their own vehicles, the guidelines said.

During Friday’s conference call, Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said families could still hold private graduation parties. However, the MDH was still evaluating how big those gatherings could be, for safety.

While the decision to ban in-person graduation ceremonies was difficult, Walz also said it was connected to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota.

“School districts had asked us for immediate guidance,” Walz said. That guidance could change as conditions change, he said.

On Friday, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Minnesota was still growing. Lyon County is now at a total of 16 confirmed cases, and Murray County at 26 cases. Statewide, there have been a total of 10,088 COVID-19 cases, and 534 deaths. There are 473 patients currently hospitalized, and 5,697 patients have recovered and are no longer in isolation.