Marianas High School principal Jonathan Aguon apologizes to parents who could not see their child graduate in person at a recent indoor ceremony at the school's gym due to capacity and safety issues.

"I do offer my sincere apologies. With the situation of the gym reaching capacity we did our best to try to maximize the seating capacity of the gym. And, you know, we offer our sincere apologies," he said in a phone interview with KUAM Wednesday.

On Tuesday, parents voiced their frustration over the disorganized ceremony for the school's 358 graduates. There was no ticket system for the indoor ceremony, which was rescheduled due to Typhoon Mawar. Some parents were not able to see their child graduate in-person and were told to watch the commencement on the live stream at the high school's cafeteria, which was also at capacity.

The principal explained the circumstances surrounding the chaos. "We decided to have the graduation indoors at the gym. Given the time constraint that we had, from the time that we're able to get the all clear, the community to have the all clear after the typhoon, and then, you know, having to expend effort to close and clean up the shelter because our campus was used as a shelter," Aguon said.

He explained that the school was on a tight timeline after the storm delayed the ceremony and prevented them from properly establishing a ticket system.

He added, "We decided to just push forward with that and do our best to maximize the capacity of the gym so that we can accommodate as many people as possible."

While Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred Ada told KUAM that future graduations will be held outdoors after Tuesday's hiccup, Aguon said it should ultimately be up to the students.