"Seniors of Kellenberg Memorial High School - You've just had your prom cancelled. What are you going to do now?" Why, go to Disney World, of course. It seems the $20,000 rental house in the Hamptons and liquor-loaded chauffeured limousines became simply too much for the principal of Long Island's tony Catholic high school to accept. So he called the whole shebang off. In a letter to the school's parents, he said, "It is not primarily the sex/booze/drugs that surround this event, as problematic as they might be; it is rather the flaunting of affluence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake - in a word, financial decadence." Despite some modest backlash from parents, who are considering hosting an un-official prom, the cancellation has gone down fairly well. One student noted that "you can't really argue with the facts they present.... It's just what it's evolved into." But no worries - he's still got the four-day senior class trip to Disney World to look forward to this April. Climbing into his jet-black Infiniti, he told the AP reporter, "We fly down together and stay in the same hotel and so it's not like we're totally losing everything." Mr. Principal, it looks like you still have some work to do. Call your chaperones.
"L.I. Principal Nixes School's Senior Prom," by Frank Eltman, Press of Atlantic City, October 16, 2005