TORONTO – The prom is on for Toronto public high school students.
With Ontario public school teachers refusing to supervise extracurricular activities in protest of having contracts imposed on them, there were concerns students would have to go without a prom.
The Toronto District School Board was expected to vote on a motion Wednesday night to determine whether or not public high schools would be able host a prom this year.
But trustee Pamela Gough withdrew her motion after Director of Education Donna Quan told the board “98 per cent of public high schools have indeed confirmed plans for a prom.”
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Quan said the other two per cent have plans for some sort of commemorative event for the students.
When they were told the prom issue was already being addressed, and that principals and other support staff are on board for prom plans, a sigh of relief swept across the meeting.
Quan’s announcement came as a surprise to both Gough and student trustee Kourosh Houshmand who were desperately seeking support from the board for a prom through the motion.
“We will offer you our full support in getting this done,” Quan told Houshmand.
“This is something we deserve,” Houshmand said. “Prom is like the playoffs. Imagine getting the Stanley Cup at the end of the season with no playoffs. It’s the game 7 closure we want.”
Gough called the prom “a valuable learning experience.”
“When Kourosh spoke at the last meeting, he had some of us in tears explaining how we were robbing them of the chance to decide what to wear, decide who to ask and all that stuff. It was heartbreaking,” Gough said.
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