Ocean City Schools Urge Murphy To Cut Outdoor Limits For Prom

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City School Superintendent Kathleen Taylor is calling on Governor Phil Murphy to eliminate the 200-person outdoor gathering limit for school proms and graduations.

Taylor and Board of Education President Joseph Clark detailed their concerns in a letter to Murphy on Tuesday.

Taylor and Clark noted that while weddings have been excluded from the 200-person outdoor capacity limit, proms and graduations are not. Funerals, memorial services, religious activities and political activities are also exempt from those limits, according to the state's guidance.

They have asked Murphy to either add graduations and proms to the category of events exempt from the 200-person limit, or increase the capacity limit on outdoor gatherings significantly.

“Weddings are currently exempt from outdoor capacity limitations, yet proms and graduation ceremonies involve individuals who already interact daily in our schools,” officials said. “There is no added risk in allowing these same students to assemble outdoors for events that will provide them with more traditional school experiences and lasting memories in a very untraditional school year.”

Under the current capacity restrictions, less than two-thirds of Ocean City high school seniors could attend the outdoor prom together at Carey Stadium.

“Our back-up plans for these events are less than ideal, with our Ocean City seniors opting to move forward with a prom that would only allow 200 of the 325 members of the senior class to attend,” officials said. “Such an event would feel far from celebratory and likely add to students' stress rather than relieve it.”

Taylor and Clark said the return of a traditional prom and graduation could provide a significant boost to student’s mental health after a challenging year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The students, staff and community planning these school events are implementing mitigation strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to school officials.

Additionally, Taylor and Clark said a growing number of adults and teenagers in the Ocean City community have received the COVID-19 vaccine, providing further protection against the coronavirus.

“Please adjust guidance soon so we can move forward to finalize plans for the end-of-year celebrations our students deserve,” officials said. “Our young people have sacrificed much over the past year, and we look forward to celebrating their resiliency and positivity during this very trying time.”

During a news conference Wednesday, Murphy said he'll be ready to provide guidance for graduations next week that will allow more normality, assuming that the state's coronavirus case numbers continue to trend downward.

Graduation guidance has been under consideration since at least Monday. Local officials have begun calling on the governor to lift outdoor gathering restrictions as graduation season approaches.

Related: 22 NJ Mayors Urge Murphy To Cut Outdoor Limits For Graduation

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