In recent years, Central has adopted prom requirements to help enforce positive behavior in school. Students who wish to attend the formal dance must garner no more than five days of absences and acquire no suspensions throughout the second semester until prom. I find these rules to be rather effective at convincing students to clean up their act before the big dance. 

Firstly, they’re not very restrictive. Five full days’ worth of absences add up to about 37 hours. This eliminates chronic skippers from eligibility, but not the average student who misses out on a “catch-up day” every once in a while. Also, suspensions are only advised as punishment for level three violations, according to the OPS Code of Conduct; these include violations such as assault or serious damage to school property. This plan is not going to keep many students from attending prom. But that’s not the goal. 

Instead, these prom requirements work by convincing students who are on the fence about these behavior or attendance issues to commit to meeting school goals, like our attendance quotas. Let’s face it, if someone got suspended for serious damage to school property and never showed up to class, they probably wouldn’t be all that interested in attending prom in the first place. But I’ve heard it said on multiple occasions from more punctual students that they only come to school at this point in the second semester to be eligible for the dance. 

Seniors are especially affected by this. As senioritis kicks in during the latter half of the school year, students feel it is less and less necessary to attend school or complete work. By putting attendance requirements on prom ticket sales, the school can ensure that seniors who may be tempted to stay home will consider the possibility of losing their senior prom and decide to get to school on time. It’s a far better motivator than an attendance certificate or the mere expectation that every student shows up every day. 

All of this makes Central look good. With OPS always trying to “Strive for 95,” attendance has become a priority for the district in the last few years. Putting an absence cap on prom eligibility is a smart way to boost the numbers just a bit for the students who only need a little convincing to attend school more often. 

There are, of course, some students who will not be moved to action by these requirements, but that’s to be expected. The attendance and suspension restrictions serve as an ultimatum – one that students can and will break, understanding the consequences. There’s an inherent choice in it; students can skip, or they can go to prom. So, the students who are dead set on missing classes willingly give up their admission to the dance. The restrictions are never going to boost attendance significantly – but perhaps they’re not designed to. If a few occasional skippers attend one more class to just barely qualify for prom attendance, then they’ve succeeded. 

So, while the prom requirements may seem like they keep many students from getting into prom, they only act as a motivator for the average student to make Central look extra good during a time of year when kids tend to care less about their academics. It’s a decently effective practice which has a negative effect on very few people who actually want to attend prom, and I think it’s a good idea to continue with the requirements in this way.