Massachusetts To Schools: Consider Cancelling Prom: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Thursday, April 7. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance urging schools to cancel proms.
• The new, marathon-themed Red Sox uniforms unveiled this week were met with mixed reviews by fans.
• Worcester officials say they are working on opening restrooms to serve homeless residents, but are having trouble finding a site in the city that won't cause controversy.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

To Prom or Not to Prom in 2021: That is the question.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance to public schools urging them to cancel proms for a second year. The traditional, end-of-high school dances are "an inherently high-risk activity, as it is a social gathering that involves dancing and singing" according to DESE, noting that both of those activities involve "increased respiration."

It's not a ban, per se, but DESE said schools should either hold "alternative celebrations for seniors" or wait to hold proms until after the school year ends, when more students will have been vaccinated for COVID-19.

Waltham is among the districts already working to figure out what this will mean for them.

Nearby News

• More than 1K Sign Petition Urging Newton To Improve Parks, Fields
• Driver Crashes Into Subway Attempting To Evade Brookline Police
• Waltham Police Ask For Public's Help To Find This Man
• On the Market: Brookline Manse In Cottage Farm For $4 Million

Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and get it delivered every weekday. It's free!

Thursday's Other Top Stories

Red Sox, sans red: The new, marathon-themed Red Sox uniforms unveiled this week were met with mixed reviews when shown to fans at the team's nearby souvenir store across the street from Fenway Park. The idea is that the Sox will honor the Boston Marathon by wearing blue-and-yellow uniforms, the colors that stretch across the finish line of the famous race, during Patriot Day weekend games. "They're a little too yellow. I don't understand the yellow at all," said 25-year-old Allison Feinberg of Leominster.

Ex-Northeastern coach arrested: Federal prosecutors are accusing a former Northeastern University track coach of using phony social media accounts to trick women on his team into sending him nude photos of themselves. FBI agents arrested former Northeastern University track coach Steve Waithe, 28, of Chicago, Wednesday morning. Waithe is also accused of stalking at least one woman.

Dangerous times for storefronts: A 20-year-old man trying to evade Brookline police crashed his car into a Subway restaurant just over the Boston city limit. The driver, who is facing multiple charges, suffered minor injuries. And in Tewksbury, a driver trying to park outside a dry cleaner crashed into the building Wednesday morning. No one was injured in that incident.

Learn more about getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts at Patch's information hub.

They Said It

"This is really, really a public health issue, and an issue of human dignity."

• Worcester City Councilor Sarai Rivera on efforts to open restrooms to serve homeless residents. Many public restrooms in Worcester and other Massachusetts communities have been closed since the start of the pandemic last year.