Unvaccinated Students At Exeter, NH Prom Marked For Contact Tracing
EXETER, N.H. (CBS) -- A prom at Exeter High School in New Hampshire required students who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 to be marked on their hands with a marker. The school says it is a way for them to do contact tracing, but some parents are now expressing their frustration with how the school employed this practice during the senior prom.
"They want their voices to be heard they're afraid to speak out. You see that," said State Rep. Melissa Litchfield. "They were horrified to be perfectly honest with you."
Litchfield says parents started reaching out to her last weekend following the prom, which was held Friday night outside under a tent at the high school. The school district says students who were not fully vaccinated or unable to show a vaccine card had a number written on their hand.
Representative Litchfield shared these pictures sent to her from parents.
"I think in this day and age, it probably wasn't the best choice of how to handle things, simply because it's a matter of show your papers, and if you don't produce your papers, we're going to brand you," said Litchfield.
Every few songs the students were asked to raise their hands so it could be determined who they were dancing around. The district says this was all part of its contact tracking system.
Exeter High School Principal Mike Monahan said the student and parent feedback he has received has been positive.
"We hope the community will understand that while no model is perfect, this model let the students enjoy a close to normal and highly desired experience to cap off their senior year. That's the memory we want to leave them with," said Monahan in a statement.
"I think again they could have done better than that," one woman said. "They could have thought of an alternative."
And at this point, the district says there have been no reports of COVID cases from the prom.
