Some proms are back, with masks, testing and distancing
BOSTON >> A minor league baseball stadium. A negative coronavirus test and absolutely no slow dancing.
Those are just a few of the unusual requirements for a high school prom happening in Manchester, New Hampshire, later this month, one of many school districts across the country struggling to navigate holding the formal dance in the second year of the pandemic.
Students only found out early this month that the proposal to hold prom May 28 at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats stadium had been approved, after some school board members expressed reservations the event could spread the coronavirus. Along with socially-distanced dancing, students are also being encouraged to get vaccinated before the dance.
“It would be awesome if we could all have a prom and be together. I mean I haven’t seen some of my classmates in over a year,” said Allison Hermann, a senior who is among the Central High School students who helped plan the prom.
“This is one of the only times that we all get to share together. Just being a high school senior is very symbolic so the fact we haven’t gotten the chance to be together yet is really sad,” she added.
School districts across the country are weighing whether they can safely hold an event that many seniors consider a capstone to their high school careers.
Schools from Miami to Charlotte to El Paso have already cancelled prom over safety concerns. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has described proms as a high-risk activity due to the singing and dancing and has recommended that districts scrap proms and come up with alternative celebrations for seniors.
Some students and parents are forging ahead to organize their own celebrations if the school has opted not to. Those schools going ahead — albeit with a laundry list of restrictions — cite rising vaccination rates and a drop in coronavirus cases in their districts.
Some holding proms are requiring a negative coronavirus test to attend while others are encouraging students to get vaccinated before they slip into their gowns and tuxedos. Most are requiring masks and putting strict restrictions on dancing or who can attend.
In Florida, Sarasota County schools are allowing a prom but with no dancing and limiting the event to seniors. Several schools, including Fletcher High School in Duval County, are requiring students to quarantine for 10 days after the event. Many districts are holding their dances outdoors, including one on yacht and another in a football stadium.
At Elmbrook Schools outside of Milwaukee, Superintendent Mark Hansen said he worked with teachers, students and parents to come up with a process to “restore some level of normalcy for school events that have been lost for over a year.”
The two Elmbrook high schools are requiring a negative COVID-19 test to attend its two proms and students are encouraged to stick with their friends “to prevent any outbreak from having a dramatic impact on our ability to continue operations.”
Hansen said no cases were reported from the first prom that happened May 8. The second prom takes place this weekend.
An outdoor prom in Exeter, New Hampshire, on June 4 will rotate students on and off the dance floor under an outdoor tent with no touching allowed. And they are only serving water, no food.
“We are really trying to make it as safe as possible. The last thing we want is to spread COVID,” Liz Morse, an Exeter High School science teacher and senior class adviser, said. “Everyone is making concessions and people are being pretty gracious about it.”