Students & parents dissatisfied with new Thursday prom date

Junior year is often seen as a very important year for students. At West Essex, juniors have one major event they look forward to: prom. At the same time, there is something else most kids stress over: the ACT. This school year, the two events fell on the same weekend.

Facing criticism from students and parents for its decision to host prom on the night before the April 4 ACT, district administration chose to move the date of prom—one day earlier, to Thursday night— a move that left some students and parents still unsatisfied and upset.

“Having a prom the night before a test is not ideal,” Principal Caesar Diliberto said after the administration chose the new April 2 date for prom. “It was just the only thing in the calendar that really worked. It’s a better opportunity to select a better prom date for this year and for years going forward.

Administration is satisfied with the decision and considers the matter resolved.”

“I was planning on taking that ACT but now I feel like I won’t be ready and focused for that day,” junior Lauren Snerson said. “Moving it to Thursday won’t change this.”

Parents and students attended the Sept. 9 board meeting to argue about the initial date for junior prom. Parents argued that the school promotes proper testing techniques, but hosting the largest social event of junior year the night before such a major test contradicted that message.

“To me, whether you test fine after you don’t sleep or fine after you do sleep, the score is the secondary issue,” West Essex parent Janice Katz said at the board meeting. “It’s the message that’s being sent, that one of the two items should not be participated in by students: the junior prom or the ACT.”

Prior to the board meeting, junior parents began looking into potential alternative dates for prom.

“I did look at the calendar and I found two Fridays in March where there are no events on Saturday, and another Friday in April where there’s nothing scheduled on a Saturday,” Katz said.

The board has responded to the parents who found new dates by saying that while those dates would hypothetically work, they do not correlate with the school board’s calendar. Additionally, Diliberto said, future proms would eventually be moved to a Thursday as West Essex was one of the only schools in the area with prom still on a Friday.

Although students will now not have to worry about being out the night before the ACT, many juniors feel that having prom on a Thursday takes away from the experience of being with their friends over prom weekend.

“The date of prom should have been moved earlier in the year, so this issue would not be going on now,” junior Andrew Boksz said.

“It doesn’t give the students the same prom weekend opportunity that every other grade had,” junior Drea Chirico said.