A dad claims that his 15-year-old son was turned away from his senior prom by a teacher after being given no warning he couldn't attend due to missing one of his final exams
Stephen Lang, 54, and partner Kayleigh Richards, 35, said that the teenager was "absolutely devastated" at being sent home and that they had spent a "small fortune" on buying a suit and arranging for a car to take him to the prom.
They said they had no idea that he couldn't go until they received a call from Camborne Science and International Academy urging them to pick up Stephen's son Harrison Lang last Tuesday, reported CornwallLive.
The school allegedly said that he was not allowed to go to the prom because he missed one of his final exams and "was naughty this year".
The school reportedly says neither Harrison nor his family ever tried to buy a prom ticket - and would've been refused if he had for not adhering to school policies during the year.
“I bought my son his suit ready for him to go and we got a car which we had hired to take him. He came down to the prom in the car and parked outside like anybody else and the teacher even opened the door to let him out with the crowds," said Mr Lang.
"An hour later I had a phone call from another teacher who said he wasn’t welcome to the prom because he had missed an exam and had been naughty this year."
He described his teenage son as "absolutely devastated" and that the school had "embarrassed him in front of all his friends".
He continued: "Normally a teacher would ring me if he was ever late or missed school but I hadn't heard a word from them about this. Harrison felt awful in front of his friends.
"He was broken. So upset. We spent a small fortune on his suit, shoes and getting him all nice and ready for it. If they had said a few weeks before then it’s a different matter but they’ve let him go all the way down there, greeted him out of the car and said it was lovely to see him and then this. He was absolutely devastated. Me, my partner and Harry's mum were all devastated too at how you could turn away a kid like this."
He claimed that he had emailed the school to complain but had not yet heard back.
"Harrison says there were lots of other kids who never attend school there too," he continued. "They’ve done it in front of hundreds of people and made him look so small. It was his last day of schooling and that prom experience will never happen again.
“The school has my phone number and they are quick enough to ring me if he was naughty at school or late but they didn’t even try to ring me about this.”
A Camborne Science and International Academy, reported CornwallLive, said: "Whilst we do our utmost to make sure all students are able to attend school social occasions, unfortunately and rarely there are instances when this isn’t possible. Camborne Science and International Academy has very clear and high expectations about attendance and behaviour as outlined in our school policies.
"All students are fully aware that they must adhere to our school policies throughout the year and when these standards are not met, students will not be awarded the privilege to attend the prom. The prom is a ticketed event and students are required to pay in advance and pre-order food.
"In this instance, the student in question neither paid for a ticket nor pre-ordered food and therefore was not expected to attend. If he had attempted to pay for a ticket or pre-order food, he would have been politely declined at that point due to our aforementioned policies.”
The Mirror contacted Camborne Science and International Academy for comment.
