Placer High students have heard no confirmed plan of a Winter Formal dance, as some local schools prepare for their own event.

     High Schools such as Oakmont, Roseville, Casa Robles, Rocklin, Bear River, and Woodcreek have Winter formal dances planned by either their PTA’s or Leadership classes. 

     “We probably won’t do it this year just because of COVID and everything else going on,” Placer High’s leadership teacher, Mike Sabins said in a statement. “We don’t have the facilities to do it because the gym is going to be closed down in February, they are redoing the Earl Crabbe Gym which is part of the bond we passed a couple of years ago.” 

     Placer’s staff has concerns that if they did this event, it wouldn’t be able to bring in enough money. They believe Winter Formal attendees are primarily freshman and sophomore students since the upperclassmen are preparing for Junior Prom and Senior Ball. 

     Many upperclassmen and underclassmen attended Homecoming, but because of these upperclassmen events in the spring, there is a concern that the turnout would not be the same as the Homecoming dance. 

     “It would be a good idea for Placer to have a Winter Formal just so that everyone gets more involved, I know lots of people who would love to go,” stated Junior Lillian Nicholson.

     Rumors have circulated about Placer’s campus that the main reason we are unable to have this event this year is that the staff and administration are against it and trying to prevent the dance in the future.

      However, Placer High’s Principal, Randy Ittner shared “I think if we could have a Winter Formal that would be great, it’s just with COVID there are so many restrictions and trying to find a place to have a dance is hard right now, the only possibility would be having it outside.” 

     Placer High’s last dance, Homecoming, was out on our tennis courts, and because of this, students are wondering could we do the same with our winter formal?

     “We did Homecoming out on the tennis courts, but it would be hard to do that again because of the weather. If we wanted to do it indoors we would have to regulate masks, which is hard especially at an out-of-school hours event,” explained Sabins. 

     Many students have expressed that a dance would give all students something to look forward to in between events of the upperclassmen ball and prom or spring break for the underclassmen.

     Due to COVID, most students at Placer High have not had a Winter Formal in their high school experience. 

     “I think that we should have a winter formal because as an underclassman, we only have Homecoming which a lot of people don’t go to, said Freshman Dylan Villanueva, “I think Winter Formal would be a great opportunity for us to socialize and have fun.”

     As the Omicron COVID-19 variant has affected the students and staff at Placer High School, resources to plan and run this event are depleted, and it would be difficult to be able to effectively have the Winter Formal dance.

     “It’s not easy for the staff because it is a lot of extra things to do to run another dance if we had enough people to cover it, but it is good for students,” explained Ittner.

     For the 2021-2022 school year, Placer High will not be having a Winter Formal dance as the COVID-19 guidelines, lack of staff, and construction of the campus has made the idea difficult to go through with. But talk of the dance and students expressing their want for the event, Placer High has a good possibility for having a Winter Formal dance in the future.