Yahoo Finance ‘Corsage on one wrist and the mask on the other’: Can KC schools hold prom amid COVID?
Demetrius Bush made some of the most important plays of his varsity basketball career in front of an empty gymnasium. He spent the last classes he’ll have with childhood friends staring at a computer screen. And now he’s touring colleges from his bedroom.
Still, when the Olathe North High School senior learned his school would allow prom this spring — a slice of tradition after a year of anything but — his first thought was, “Oh no.”
“I’m a bit worried because of the fact that COVID is still a thing,” the 17-year-old said. “It’s still taboo to be around a lot of people.”
Bush and his date, Anna Miller, like other high school seniors around the metro and across the country, will be going to the dance as schools cautiously try to give them a semblance of normalcy this year.
Health officials are not thrilled.
Given that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still warns against large gatherings, “I think it’s … dangerous,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control for the University of Kansas Health System. “There’s a lot of risk going on.”
Yet, officials are also offering guidance on how to do prom safely. Some urge teens to get vaccinated before the party — anyone 16 and older is now eligible in both Missouri and Kansas. Some districts have pushed back the date of their proms to give students more time to get their shots.
At some proms, there won’t be a dance floor at all. If anything, small groups of six or 10 students might be allowed to dance, spread apart at an outdoor venue. One Pennsylvania high school is using the Pittsburgh Steelers’ stadium; a Wichita area high school is using an airplane hangar. Some Kansas City area schools are going to Children’s Mercy Park, where Sporting KC plays, or opening up their football stadiums.
Most are requiring masks.
Even with all of the COVID-19 precautions, some worry that proms could turn into superspreader events, especially if the rules are too difficult to enforce. And there are concerns that seniors might leave their proms for after-parties, as they typically would, where school leaders won’t be around to enforce the rules.
“It is not a good idea to have proms yet, but there are no local orders against it,” said Sanmi Areola, director of the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment. “The COVID-19 virus and its variants are circulating and we still have a long way to go to vaccinate enough of our residents for widespread protection.”
But school leaders believe that they can implement many of the same precautions that they have in the classroom, like mask-wearing and hand-washing, to make proms COVID safe. And with graduations looming, prom could be a test for whether in-person ceremonies can be held safely.
Bush and Miller will both be fully vaccinated by the time prom rolls around in May. The Olathe district is planning to hold all of its proms on football fields. Only seniors and their dates will be allowed — and they must wear masks, social distance and stay in small groups.
“This group of seniors were juniors last year when school got shut down, so they never had this prom opportunity,” Olathe Superintendent John Allison said. “It’s important. We want them to have it. And I think our schools have come up with how to do it safely.”
“I’m really excited,” Miller said. “I’ve been excited about prom since middle school.
“Obviously we can’t go back to the way it was. But I think they’re doing the most they can. I’m glad they’re making an effort to have some sort of normalcy this year.”
A night to remember
While some districts are still deciding whether they can even hold prom, many are moving ahead with altered versions, or even alternative events.
Lee’s Summit North High School, for instance, will hold prom on the football field, with an ice cream truck. Students will be required to stick to groups of no more than 10, and they’ll be assigned an area on the field for their group to dance, spokeswoman Katy Bergen said.
Lee’s Summit High School and Lee’s Summit West, though, will instead hold three, one-hour sessions in their high school gyms for small groups of students to dance. The gyms will be cleaned for 30 minutes before each new round of seniors comes in.
The Kansas City, Kansas, district — which was the last in the area to bring all students back for in-person classes — will hold unconventional end-of-year celebrations, rather than typical dances. Spokesman Edwin Birch said one high school is planning a barbecue picnic for seniors. One will have a senior social night at Children’s Mercy Park, home of Sporting Kansas City. Another will party at the Uptown Theater. All will require social distancing and mask-wearing.
The goal, Birch said, is to plan parties where social distancing is easier.
“It’s just to be a little safer because we’re not COVID-free yet as a society,” he said. “The kids are still able to do something. They didn’t have a regular school year, so this is a way to think outside of the box and give them something to celebrate close to the end of the year.”
Some North Kansas City high schools will have indoor proms, but with seniors only. Staff members will screen students at the door and make sure everyone is wearing a mask. Dancing will be allowed, and social distancing will be “encouraged when possible,” said spokeswoman Susan Hiland.
“After seeing the impact on seniors who experienced the abrupt halt and cancellation of activities last year, continuing these time-honored traditions this year will benefit students significantly,” she said. “This year, students are thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of several senior celebrations with safety measures in place.”
Jaxon Gilner says she has been dreaming about prom night for years — dressing up, taking pictures, dancing and finally experiencing those made-for-teen-movie moments.
“My friends and I are ecstatic, and we have already begun to make plans for it,” the Olathe South senior said. “After the majority of this year being unusual, we really want to stick to a lot of the prom traditions. I have already gone prom dress shopping a couple of times with my friends and we have hunted for the perfect dress.
“We are all brainstorming ideas for places to take pictures and eat dinner for prom night. I’m really looking forward to just being with the rest of my class and just have an amazing night.”
After missing out on junior prom, football games and homecoming, Gilner said she’s willing to make sacrifices, wear a mask all night and stick to her friend group, so she can at least experience the senior-year milestone she’s been planning for years.
“I feel that this will just mean so much to the senior class because we have just lost a lot of events that have always been planned for us,” she said.
“While I will always be sad that I was not able to have some of the early traditions of a normal senior year, if I have a somewhat normal prom and graduation that are both just a blast, I will be so happy and content with those two things.”
‘Mom proms‘
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has not issued guidance specific to proms. But director Dr. Randall Williams said prom 2021 can’t be like proms of the past, even though COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining in Missouri.
“When you say, is it OK to have proms like they are normally held, I would say we’re not there,” said Williams. “…We still think that all those measures that have gotten us to where we are, which is hand-washing, social distancing, wearing a mask if you can’t social distance, being careful how you congregate and getting vaccinated, all of those are more important than ever.”
Because the risk increases in large groups, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment “does not recommend holding proms or other school events where six feet of distancing cannot be maintained,” it said in guidance given to schools last month.
It offered no advice on how to keep teens six feet from each other at a dance.
The Jackson County Health Department also has not issued guidance for proms, though schools must follow the county’s health order by requiring masks and social distancing, a department spokeswoman said.
In Johnson County, Areola said, “If people feel like this must happen, everyone involved should ensure they take the necessary precautions — wearing masks consistently and appropriately and physically distance from others outside of your ‘bubble.’ People should also consider holding the prom outdoors.”
Some health departments across the country have refused to endorse proms, giving rise to rogue events nicknamed “mom proms,” where groups of parents throw private proms for their kids. One such “prom” in Idaho was promoted with this tagline — “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody,” drawing backlash on social media and a phone call from school officials.
Across the Kansas City metro, some parents have planned private proms for juniors, who aren’t allowed at many schools’ events.
At a recent KU health system briefing, a mom called in and said her daughter’s school had just announced it would hold prom.
“I hope the prom outfits include a mask,” said Dr. Stephen Stites, chief medical officer of the KU system.
Even if students wear masks, “I think it’s a little bit tricky, just when you’re getting a large group together, particularly if it’s going to be indoors and just trying to keep everyone compliant with wearing a mask,” said Dr. Mark Steele, executive chief clinical officer for Truman Medical Centers/University Health.
Even outdoors, especially if people are not safely distanced from one another, everyone at prom should mask up, said Dr. Angela Myers, division director of infectious diseases at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
She said it’s “probably not” realistic to think that students will stay in their required small groups and not mingle — or stay six feet apart — which makes mask-wearing even more important.
“Hopefully they’ll have their corsage on one wrist and the mask on the other when they take it off to eat or drink so they keep it with them and not set it down and then walk away from it,” said Myers. “Alternatively they can remind each other. I think people need to feel empowered to do that.”
Myers also would like to see school districts use prom season to encourage teenagers 16 and older to get vaccinated.
Children’s Mercy is hosting several clinics this month on both sides of the state line for residents 16 to 22, “so there will be plenty of opportunities for adolescents to get their vaccine before they go to prom,” she said. For information on how to sign up go to childrensmercy.org or call 816-234-3700.
Stay home if you’re sick
The Kansas health department advises schools to follow local guidelines on the size of gatherings. It also recommends:
▪ Educate students about who should stay home — which includes anyone who has tested positive or is showing symptoms or had recent close contact with someone with COVID-19.
▪ Require everyone to wash their hands when they arrive and before and after they eat or drink.
▪ Have hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol on hand if there is no access to sinks and soap.
Myers suggests also serving drinks in bottles or cans instead of a punch bowl “so people aren’t handling a ladle one after another person.
“And if you’re going to have tables and things like that set up, then having those tables spaced so they’re not clumped into groups is another good strategy.”
Another strong recommendation: Avoid the after-parties.
“I would be more concerned about the after-parties than I probably would be the prom,” said Williams, where teens might not follow precautions a school would require.
While Bush, the Olathe senior, has already gotten his first COVID-19 shot, he worries about classmates who aren’t taking the pandemic as seriously.
“I know people who are really advocating for people to get the shots. And then there are kids at school who don’t want to get a shot at all, and who aren’t worried about the virus,” Bush said. “I think I’ll feel better going since I’ll be fully vaccinated. But I’m not sure what it means for me to be vaccinated when I’m around people who haven’t gotten the vaccine at all.”
Bush’s mom, Stacey, said she’ll offer her son the same advice on prom night that she has every time he’s left home during the pandemic: “You have to trust your people.”
“I tell him all the time, are your friends sick? Have they been tested? They’re teenagers. You have to ask questions and make sure they’re taking it seriously.”