A student was forced to miss out on his senior prom despite turning up to the event after missing one of his final exams. The parents of Harrison Lang, 15, received no prior warning that he would not be able to attend and only found out when one of the teachers phoned to say they should collect him.
Stephen Lang, 54, and partner Kayleigh Richards, 35, received a call from Camborne Science and International Academy on June 28 during the prom. They were informed that because the 15-year-old "was naughty this year" and missed an exam, he was not allowed at the event.
The school says the family never tried to buy a prom ticket – but would have been unable to for not adhering to school policies during the year. Stephen claims he had received zero communication from the school stating this after "forking out a small fortune" for a suit, shoes and a car for the teen.
“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," explained Stephen. "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" saying it "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.
"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 the car and said it was lovely to see him and then this. He was absolutely devastated."
He added 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 spokesperson for Camborne Science and International Academy, 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.”
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