High school prom turns into a protest for some PK Yonge students

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - A day before prom, the seniors of PK Yonge conducted their annual senior prank, but this time it was messy.

“There was queso on the ceiling...on the floor.”

That’s how Drake McDonald, junior at PK Yonge, described the school cafeteria.

“The seniors decided to have a food fight, we separated on two sides of the cafeteria, there was no one in between,” said Addie Harker, senior at PK Yonge.

As a result, about 30 students were not able to attend prom. The school’s principal said the students were destructive.

“They also told us that we can’t come less than 24 hours before prom. They told us this yesterday after school,” said Taylor Hill, senior at PK Yonge.

In addition to not being able to attend prom, seniors also can’t participate in senior activities next week and may not be able to walk across the stage at graduation.

“I would I’ve been totally okay for them to clean up the cafeteria every day next week or clean up the campus or do some sort of project that was productive for the students and for the school. This seems to be entirely punitive,” said Eliana Bardi, parent.

These students didn’t take no for an answer. They still dressed up in their prom attire and showed up at the Reitz Union to protest against the administration’s decision.

“We have signs to make a statement to say this is not fair and it’s not right,” said Harker.

Hundreds of comments from a viral facebook post showed split opinions about the punishment.

“Some people spent thousands of dollars for prom like a lot of money for dress and makeup and everything. We weren’t going to let it go to waste, we’re going to come here, dressed up and we’re going to show them that it’s wrong,” said Hill.

But the group of students said they’re not going to cry over spilled milk.

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