SCHOOLS Student prom policies tighten

Students can no longer dance suggestively.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Rumors and complaints of inappropriate student behavior have led to changes in policies concerning high school dances here, including the upcoming prom.
The high school prom will be May 8 at The Embassy in Struthers.
Schools Superintendent Don Dailey and incoming Superintendent Frank Lazzeri said the episodes leading to the policy changes took place at a school sweethearts' dance in February at The Embassy.
Arrived drunk
Dailey said six high school students, three girls and three boys, showed up drunk for the dance. The students, who were being chauffeured in a limousine, admitted drinking when questioned by school officials.
The intoxicated students were under control of school officials and chaperons, but the behavior of some others did not please school officials.
At the end of the night, after the lights were turned up and music turned off, school officials were told that two students had engaged in sexual activity on the dance floor.
The rumor of sexual activity spread through the student body and the community, said high school Principal Tim Saxton, prompting school officials to investigate the allegations.
"There were so many allegations about this scene on the [dance] floor," Lazzeri said. "But nothing ever materialized and witnesses never came forward."
Dailey said school officials determined that the students had not engaged in sexual activity, but had been dancing suggestively.
Saxton said school officials are determined to make sure there is no drinking at the upcoming prom and no suggestive dancing.
Breath tests
Every student attending the prom will take a "passive" screening test for alcohol.
If alcohol is detected in the passive breath test, students will be required to take a more sensitive alcohol breath test.
Saxton said any student found to have been drinking alcohol will face a possible 10-day school suspension. The suspension time could be reduced if the student attends counseling, he said.
Saxton said other school districts use breath-testing equipment at school functions, and school officials here had been planning to do so for some time.
Also for the prom, all forms of suggestive dancing have been banned.
"Anything like that we just don't want to see on our dance floor," Saxton said.
"The dancing is inappropriate and it has lead to a pretty damaging rumor."
Students violating the policy will be asked to leave the dance floor for a short time, the principal said. If they repeat the behavior, they could be asked to leave the dance all together.
School officials have heard an alternate prom had been planned, but Dailey said any parents assisting in planning such an event could be responsible for inappropriate student behavior.
He said the school-sponsored prom offers all students a safe and controlled environment.
jgoodwin@vindy.com