This year, Massapequa students came back to school to learn that senior prom has been scheduled for the day before graduation.

For many, this is crushing news. As was true for prior graduating classes, students looked forward to spending time with their friends in remote areas for after prom celebrations. With the schedule as it is, however, students’ plans for after the prom have been shut down.
Don’t be upset, however; administration’s hands were tied.

“It was a logistical issue with Hofstra,” Massapequa High School Principal Dr. Barbara Williams said. “While we would’ve loved to have moved [graduation] back one day, that was a primetime slot, so anybody who had more seniority than we did was able to take that slot before we could.”

Though not the typical arrangement, this end-of-year schedule, in the eyes of administration, is the next-best alternative to what had been done in the past, as there are no other venues that could suit the district’s needs. Although these circumstances may seem disagreeable to many students, not everyone is displeased.

“The only thing that I’ve heard from parents has been a favorable response,” noted Dr. Williams. “There was always a core group of parents who were very concerned…that they didn’t have a way to say ‘no’ if students wanted to go to the Jersey shore or Fire Island.”

Regardless of the way in which students view the decision, seniors should accept it and try to make the best of it—because it’s not going to change.