Were you at the after-ball party?
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The ball will go on, say a group of Year 12 parents outraged by Rangitoto College's decision to scrap balls next year.
Allan Parker, whose Year 11 daughter will miss out on her much-anticipated school ball because of the school's decision, said he would be putting on a "bigger and
better" ball for both Year 12 and Year 13 students next year.
There would be no alcohol and plenty of parental supervision.
"The kids next year will not miss out on the ball," he said.
Mr Parker is listed as a director of event organising company Sero
Event Management Ltd.
Principal David Hodge said he had no objections to parents staging an event themselves.
"Parents are free to do what they like. They can have a 'Kelly Brown' party on 364 days of the year. Just please don't associate it with the school."
The board voted to cancel next year's ball after staff were deceived by Year 12 students and their parents who claimed there would be no after-ball but then staged a large-scale, organised function in a warehouse in Onehunga.
The college, which is New Zealand's largest, traditionally holds separate balls for Year 12 and Year 13 students and parents must sign permission slips stating there will be no large-scale, organised function after the event.
In letters to parents, the school warned any breach could result in the cessation of school balls.
"What's disappointing for me is that the parents said 'yes we really like the school and we like all the things you do but here's a rule we don't like so we're just going to ignore it'," Mr Hodge said.
He said his secretary's phone rang hot yesterday in reaction to the Herald's story and support was 20 to one in support of the school.
Meanwhile the parents said the school had "bullied" and "blackmailed" students to spill their knowledge of planned after-balls.
In addition, a Year 13 student who put forward a proposal for a safe, organised event to follow the school ball was stripped of his student representative and house captain titles and banned from attending the ball.
Mr Hodge said the school decided the student's proposal would not meet its criteria as a safe, properly supervised event.
He confirmed that staff had threatened to cancel the ball tickets of any Year 12 or 13 students who were suspected of being involved in planning an after-ball.
"Is that blackmail? I think it depends how you look at it," he said.
Geraldine High School in Canterbury also threatened to ban the 2010 ball when students organised an after-ball on August 1 despite promising they would not.
Principal Kerry Stevens said the school banned balls for nine years in the 1990s because of behaviour at an after-ball function.
"A fair number of our staff worked hard to make our ball a success and it was and they were hurt by some of the lies they were told and we wanted to put that right."
Paul Daley, vice-president of the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand, said principals were always fearful that an after-event involving alcohol would overshadow the school ball.
He said it was a shame that students were getting mixed messages from parents' willingness to hold alcohol-fuelled events afterwards. "It is perpetuating the belief among teenagers that in order to have a good time you need to have alcohol."
