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March 9, 2001/Adar 14, 5761, Vol. 53, No.23
Prom will go on
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
Despite reasoned arguments to the contrary, Horizon High School will not change its prom from the scheduled date of Friday, April 20.
"The prom will be on Friday night unless something else opens up," said Toby Stessard, Paradise Valley Unified School District assistant superintendent. Horizon is one of four high schools in the 3,400-student district.
Horizon senior Aaron Kravitz and his parents, Rabbi Robert and Helen Kravitz, met with school officials in early January after Aaron learned that the originally calendared April 21 prom date had been changed to the preceding Friday. Aaron Kravitz objected to the scheduling of a "once only" school event on the Jewish Sabbath.
"It's just plain wrong," the young man said of the decision. "It forces me to choose between family values and the highlight of my senior year."
School officials say the date was changed when student organizers, who began their search for a prom location in July, were unable to secure a venue for the original Saturday evening. When the only alternative appeared to be to reschedule for Friday, the school opted reluctantly to change the date.
Horizon contracted with Monterra at WestWorld for April 20 with the understanding that Monterra would let them know if the Saturday night became available. So far it hasn't.
Saturday night is the night of choice for prom, said Stessard, noting that that is the official Paradise Valley district policy. "Nobody wants it on a Friday."
Aaron Kravitz said that at the January meeting, he and his parents presented Horizon Vice Principal Linda Ihnat and student government advisor, Dick Wells, with an alternative venue.
The suggested location, another hall at the WestWorld property, was not suitable, Ihnat informed the family some three weeks later. "It wasn't 'five-star' enough," said Robert Kravitz.
Stessard, said that in conversations with Ihnat and Horizon Principal Anthony Capuano, he learned the alternative venue "was not an appropriate setting."
Aaron Kravitz added that objections to the location, Brett's Barn at WestWorld, included the hall's "barn-like atmosphere" and concrete floor. He suggested the aesthetics could be remedied with good decorations and a dance floor.
After receiving news that the school would not change the date, Aaron Kravitz said he and his father, who is area executive director of American Jewish Committee, discussed a plan of action. Aaron Kravitz decided to write a letter to the editor to the Arizona Republic, the Scottsdale Tribune and the Paradise Valley Independent.
His letter sparked a Tuesday, Feb. 27, news story by Republic reporter Anne Ryman, and his letter to the editor was printed the following day. On Friday of the same week, the Republic published an editorial urging Horizon to reconsider its decision.
Aaron Kravitz said reaction to his campaign to change the date has been mixed but that his close friends, both Jews and non-Jews, are supportive.
"I did get some negatives from the student government people," he said. "Those I heard from said I should not have done this, that it makes them look bad."
Aaron Kravitz has attended school in the Paradise Valley district for 15 years. He is a member of National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society and sings in three elite concert groups at the school. Next year he will attend Arizona State University School of Business.
Kravitz said his family lights candles and sings the Kiddush on Friday nights and then has dinner together. Sometimes he goes out with friends later in the evening, occasionally to Horizon football games. Once or twice a month, he and his parents attend Friday evening services at Temple Beth Israel in Scottsdale, where they are members. Kravitz became bar mitzvah at Temple Chai in Phoenix, where the family was previously affiliated.
Aaron Kravitz said he would not attend his senior prom if the Friday date is not changed but has not decided if he will pursue the issue further. He would consider legal action only with communal support, he said.
Jewish Community Relations Director Tami Schultz and Anti-Defamation League Assistant Regional Director Paul Wieser voiced support of Aaron Kravitz's effort but have not indicated legal challenge to Horizon's decision is in the offing.
"It shows complete insensitivity," said Schultz.
JCRC's Task Force on Religion in the Public Schools provides five-year Jewish calendars to schools throughout the Valley. The calendar includes suggested policy: "So as not to penalize students or workers for their religious observance, we ask that scheduling of events on Jewish holidays and the Jewish Sabbath be avoided."
The task force also sponsors an annual meeting of school officials to raise consciousness and air concerns. Ruth Finn, task force co-chairwoman, said the rationale for the effort is to avoid situations like the Horizon prom date.
"We don't want our kids to have to choose between religious observance and school activity," she said. "We don't want them to have to make a choice about prom."
A similar controversy has been sparked in the Deer Valley Unified School District, where prom is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, the first night of Passover, at the district's Mountain Ridge High School. Deer Valley parent Michelle Steinberg said school officials have said they cannot reschedule the event and have offered students who have complained about the conflict free tickets to prom.
"The insensitivity needs to be dealt with," said Steinberg, who serves on a school district committee that deals with religion in the public schools and also the Jewish community's JCRC task force on religion in the public schools.
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