Administrators from the district pulled the plug on prom last week. The event that many seniors look forward to was set to be held at the Berry Center later in the spring, but with COVID-19 still raging, administrators in charge of the event decided to err on the side of caution.

The COVID-19 pandemic is nearing the one-year anniversary of its major spike in the U.S. Since the shutdown last year, many events across the country have been canceled, which now includes this year’s prom. 

“Seniors, we are sorry to announce that Prom 2021 has been canceled,” Cy Falls Principal Rebecca Denton said in a statement. “However, we are planning some fun events where we will celebrate you.”

Many ideas were discussed by district officials and principals, but in the end, Principal Denton said the group couldn’t see a feasible way to follow safety protocols and host prom. 

“We just didn’t feel like we could host a prom while enforcing all of the CDC guidelines,” Denton said. “I am so sorry. I just hate this for them. I really do.”

News of the cancellation spread quickly among students who had mixed feelings about the decision. 

“I was pretty upset when I found out it was canceled. I was really looking forward to it,” Juliana Valle (12) said. “It’s a big deal because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and it’s now just taken away from all of us. This was our chance to have fun as seniors, but now we can’t.”

District officials decided to cancel prom sooner rather than later to give the opportunity for principals to plan their own events for seniors. Principal Denton has yet to officially schedule anything but is planning on announcing at least three events soon. 

“Hearing all these stories of prom night and everything made me really want to have a prom, but we can’t which sucks, but it is what it is,” Carmen Sisto (12) said. “I felt there still could’ve been one with extra precautions, but I understand how hard that is to do. I was sad, but we all knew this was going to happen so it didn’t really surprise me.”

Kenneth Davila, another senior at Cy Falls, resonated much of the same comments as the other students. It was ‘expected’ but the news still ‘came with a punch.’

“It’s a big deal to me because I’ve never gone to any type of high school dance before and I wanted to go with my girlfriend,” Davila said. “There would’ve been no possible way to effectively social distance and even limiting tickets would’ve been unfair. So, unfortunately, I really do think it would’ve been unavoidable.”

There is no timetable on when the new events will be announced by school administrators. However, Mr. Cy Falls still has the green light and will be held on April 10 on the baseball field.