Students, parents at Cambridge high school want board and school to let them advertise prom

Parents and graduating students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge, Ont., are petitioning the school and the board to allow students to advertise and promote their prom at the school.

Last month, students were notified they weren't allowed to advertise the event on school grounds.

Barb Melanson, a parent who is helping her daughter and other students organize this year's prom, told CBC News that communication from the board indicated the pandemic and liability as the main reasons why students can't advertise the event.

"They just haven't reinstated this since COVID has happened and with the success they had with parent-student groups taking over last year, that they would just continue with that," she said.

"And the other issue was liability when it came to advertising and so they won't let us advertise in the school because they could be liable then."

Melanson said the petition is asking the board and the school to let students promote the event at the school to make sure all graduating students have a chance to attend. 

"Whether it be posters, announcements, news letters, somebody standing at a table to be willing to answer questions that people have and then for next year, to put prom back in the school's responsibility," she said.

Melanson helped book the venue this year, but said there are benefits in having the school be involved in the process, like the security of ticket sales and negotiating for better venue prices.

A rally to advertise this year's prom was scheduled for Sunday, but that event was cancelled.

In an email statement to CBC News, director of education for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB), Tyrone Dowling said prom has been an event hosted by parents or students at most of its high schools.

"At Waterloo Catholic DSB, prom has been hosted by parents and,or, students, for three of our five schools. This has been a practice that has predated the pandemic," he said.

"Upon returning to traditional events last year, seeing the success of the other three schools, the remaining two schools chose to allow students and, or parents to host and operate the event."

Those events were not sanctioned or sponsored by either the school board or the schools. The statement adds the board and schools supported the decision for prom to remain a student-parent run activity for consistency.

Last week, students received an email with a QR code providing some details about this year's prom site, but Melanson feels that's not enough.