High schools across nation prepare low-budget proms

associated press

This year’s prom kings may swap their tuxedos for suits, and some queens will accept their tiaras in secondhand cocktail dresses while they slow-dance in a decorated gymnasium.

At high schools across the country, the traditional prom spectacle at ritzy hotels is giving way to crepe paper-covered basketball courts, as the recession eviscerates jobs and roils budgets. That’s causing teenagers, their families and schools to make careful choices about how much to spend and on what.

It’s not always easy, of course. After all, prom remains the ultimate high school party, a rite of passage to adulthood, no matter the cost. That’s why designers of $500 gowns say their sales are unexpectedly steady. And yet, this is also the first prom season in the era of the new frugality; the first since the market collapsed, unemployment soared and the government bailed out the banks and the auto industry.

So, while their parents fret about their 401(k) and whether they’ll survive the next round of layoffs, students are accepting the fact that this year, like it or not, the prom will be different.

That’s why they’re borrowing prom dresses or buying them from consignment stores, scouring the Internet for deals on accessories and hosting potluck dinners instead of reserving tables at posh restaurants before the big event.

“We’re still trying to keep it dressy, but we want them to know they don’t have to go all out,” said Renee Becker, a teacher and prom committee adviser at Bismarck High, a school of about 1,300 students in central North Dakota, where formal attire won’t be required.

At Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Fla., advisers hope to cut prom costs by as much as 44 percent after last year’s lavish “Phantom of the Opera”-themed bash rang up a $27,000 tab paid for by the senior class.

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