Administrators and students at Ridgeland High School in Rossville, Georgia, were still hoping they could salvage their junior and senior prom this summer after the coronavirus pandemic closed school early and threatened to cancel many of the events scheduled for the end of the year.
But the school has decided to officially cancel its prom after running into several road blocks.
Ridgeland Principal Karen Hughes said the decision was a tough one to make but was made with the safety of the community in mind.
"It's just hard," Hughes said. "The prom is one of those events where you make lifetime memories. We worked tirelessly to try and have it but unfortunately, with the health guidelines in place, we ended up canceling it."
In May, the Ridgeland staff sent out a survey to juniors and seniors asking who would still want to attend a prom if one were held. More than 200 students responded, and 92% said they still wanted to have a prom and would attend if one were scheduled in the summer.
Hughes said at the time the school wanted to give students something to enjoy for their school year, which effectively ended in March.
Ridgeland's prom was initially scheduled for a date in March at The Venue Chattanooga. When schools across the state started to close amid the COVID-19 pandemic, plans for the prom were put on hold.
Then the school made plans to host prom at the Chattanooga venue on June 20.
However, at the beginning of June the school sent out notices to juniors and seniors telling them they would need to sell 158 tickets at $45 a piece just to cover the expenses to host the prom at The Venue Chattanooga. At the time, only 83 tickets were sold.
Two seniors reached out to Hughes and asked if the prom could be held at the school. The cost to host it at Ridgeland High would be $4,930, a lower price tag than the $10,000 at the Chattanooga venue.
But Ridgeland had to cover over $6,000 for lunches it provided to students who didn't have their own so it couldn't help cover the costs of the prom.
The school therefore needed to sell at least 110 tickets even to pay for the event at the school and would require students to wear masks and have their temperature checked.
After Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order June 11 extending some of the coronavirus-related restrictions, the school postponned the prom again to July 25 but with ticket sales still low and the ability to host more than 50 people at one event virtually impossible, the prom was canceled.
LaFayette High School, the second high school in Walker County, also canceled its prom.
A silver lining for seniors came when an in-person graduation was rescheduled for July 30 on Bower and Painter Field. LaFayette High will host theirs the next day on July 31.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.