Schools amp up security for prom

Unique, creative measures are being used by school districts around the state to keep students safe.

By HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA, Star Tribune

Last update: May 2, 2008 - 9:26 PM

When the teen parents who attend Broadway High in Minneapolis hold their first-ever prom this year, they and their dates will be subjected to some unusual security restrictions.

There will be more security guards than at the average prom, every escort will have to provide a photo ID and pass a reference check, and everyone attending will have to pass a Breathalyzer test for alcohol. But students at the alternative school for teen parents don't seem to mind -- they're just happy that after years of lobbying, the Minneapolis School District has agreed to let them have a prom in June.

School districts around Minnesota are taking some unusual steps to make sure the high-profile events remain safe.

Watertown-Mayer High School in the Carver County town of Watertown is not allowing students to drive to the prom.

Instead, students and their dates will be picked up for tonight's prom in coach buses, driven to dinner and then to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for the dance, and finally to an after-hours party where they will be picked up Sunday at 5 a.m.

"That really minimizes the chances of things going wrong," said Watertown-Mayer Principal Scott Gengler. "We will have them from about 5 in the afternoon until about 5 the next morning. We can be a little more creative because we chaperone the kids."

Karen Tschida, a Watertown parent, said neither parents nor students have a problem with the school's plans.

"We've never felt pressure from any kids saying that they prefer parents backing off," said Tschida, whose 16-year-old son will be attending tonight's prom.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals said the Watertown measure is one of the more unusual approaches to keeping prom-goers safe. "We haven't heard that one," said Shana Kemp, spokeswoman for the association based in Reston, Va.

But, she added, "Somewhere in the country at prom there is always a tragedy. Schools will do whatever they think is necessary to keep students safe."

Most schools in Minnesota try to minimize the risk by limiting who can attend proms. Usually proms are open only to the school's students or guests who are in good standing at their school and who are under age 21.

Two years ago, the under-21 rule sparked a major controversy at Ada-Borup High School in northwest Minnesota, when a high school senior stayed home after she was not allowed to take her fiancé, a 22-year-old Iraq War veteran, because he was too old.

Some schools around the country have gone so far as to conduct police background checks on non-students, but no Minnesota school has instituted such a tactic.

Gengler, the Watertown principal, said he would support police background checks if needed. "We haven't had any incidents that would lead us in that direction," he said.

Since at least 1991, some Minnesota schools have required that prom attendees pass Breathalyzer tests to prove they have not been drinking before their events.

Anoka-Hennepin School District, the largest in the state with more than 40,000 students, does not mandate breath tests, but it does have machines available at proms. "They don't make the kids take it to get in," Anoka-Hennepin spokeswoman Sarah Schwartz said of the Breathalyzer.

Tanisha Finley, a violence prevention specialist at Broadway High, said the school is using Breathalyzer tests because some of the students and some of their dates will be over 21. "We just want to be on the safe side," Finley said.

Heron Marquez Estrada • 612-673-4280

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