APS says more students attend prom at one Atlanta high school after venue changes, parents react

ATLANTA — April is prom season for students across metro Atlanta. However, prom doesn’t look the same for every student. This year, some students saw their tradition change. Officials said the change was meant to save students some money.

Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco was at Midtown High School as seniors took pictures, exchanged boutonnieres and corsages, and jumped in their limos, as they normally would do. The part of the tradition that changed was the location of the main event.

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“We’re having it at our school gym,” said Bella Luz.

Luz is a Senior at Midtown High School. She said in the past, the school, like most all Atlanta Public Schools, held prom at a hotel or banquet hall.

Parents like Soukhy Clark explained the idea is an outside location can be more elegant.

“Yeah, it’s fancier,” said Clark. “You think about the gym, you think about sports and basketball.

Last year, Midtown High School prom was at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center.

That can cost thousands of dollars. Add to that, decorations, transporting decorations, security, and refreshments.

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Students pay for the cost when they purchase prom tickets. So, moving prom to campus could be a pivot you start to notice more schools making due to rising costs.

“It was quite a surprise, ‚but as long as the children are happy, the kids are happy, and they’re going to have a great time,” said Clark.

Atlanta Public Schools said each campus decides where to hold prom each year.

A statement said:

“Students at Midtown High School were notified in August 2022 that in the spirit of equity, prom would be held in the school gym so that more students could afford to attend the event. The 560 tickets that were sold is slightly more than last year.”

“I think it’s really good that it’s more inclusive,” said Luz. “I don’t know exactly how it’s going to look, but I just heard that it’s going to like be way better decorations than the Georgia Tech hotel.”

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