Coronavirus forces schools to postpone prom

WALKER COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) — It’s peak prom season. It’s also peak Coronavirus season. Social distancing is causing many traditional high school highlights to be postponed or canceled. That includes prom.

One school decided to cancel just three days before.

Ridgeland gave students a week notice. However, most had already finalized appointments, outfits, and plans.

“What was your initial reaction when they said you weren’t going to have it?”

“Like, of course, this is our luck,” senior Alex May said.

“I saw it coming just because of the virus that’s going around, so it wasn’t really a surprise to me. I was sad but at the same time, I just thought positive about it,” senior Torrance Roberts said.

Senior Jade Ransom had already picked out and paid for her dress when she heard the news.

“I was just kind of overwhelmed,” Ransom said. “I was like, you should just get the most out of this dress, because you can’t return them. That was kind of like the big wow moment, because I was like, ‘This is an expensive dress, and I can’t wear it.'”

The prom cancellations are affecting local businesses, as well.

“I had a few, a nail appointment, a hair appointment, a spray tan appointment, set up. I just had to tell everyone like, ‘I’m sure you already know but it’s cancelled,'” Ransom said.

Ridgeland’s Assistant Principal Dr. Rob Stinson says they expect to provide students with a prom experience at a later date — which is the main concern for these graduating seniors.

“I definitely hope that we get to like cram all the events and memories that we’re supposed to be making, just cram it in one day, one week, I don’t care. I just hope we get to be eligible to do those things,” Ransom said.

“I don’t really have a big social circle so like just being able to get together with people who I used to go to school with like from middle school and elementary school, it’s just like no matter what happens at school, whatever drama or whatever, we can still come together,” May said.

“It’s our last memory together with all of our friends before we all go our separate ways going to college and stuff like that so all we can do is hope,” Roberts said.