This story has been updated following a late interview with Ron Felsen, the principal of Northern Secondary School.

Students of Northern Secondary School on Mt. Pleasant Rd. will have to pass a breathalyzer test before gaining entry to their prom, May 29.

The blanket testing of all students and prom participants has raised some concern from at least one set of parents, who also believe notice was too short.

The requirement is already in practice in at least one Toronto school, Malvern Collegiate Institute where it has been in place for about a decade. It helps protect zero tolerance for alcohol at school events and student safety according to Northern principal Ron Felsen. He sent notice to parents about the decision April 30, two days before tickets were to go on sale for the prom, following a school council meeting to discuss the issue the evening before. In his notice to parents, Felsen explained it was a necessary move to ensure safety.

“We treat your children’s safety as seriously as you do and we can continue to hold high school formals only as long as our students comply with our requirements regarding drugs and alcohol,” he wrote to parents. “Despite our proactive efforts in the past to prevent students from consuming alcohol prior to the prom…alcohol has continued to be a problem at the last number of school dances and school formals.”

While agreeing student safety is paramount, parent and lawyer Jamie Bussin has taken up the issue with the school’s decision, believing it to be an “infringement on their statutory rights.”

“I’m happy the principal is concerned for the safety of the students, but this seems like a huge infringement to test everyone walking through the doors,” he said, adding testing of a student showing signs of impairment would be one thing, but to test all comers would be “heavy-handed,” especially considering there will be no refunds for ticket purchases for anyone caught with alcohol in their system.

Bussin said it is not uncommon for a parent to celebrate with their graduating child over a glass of wine or Champagne “so this would seem like a restriction of personal freedom, (a restriction) to do what people do in the comfort of their own homes.”

“We’re in the field of eduction, so I have a responsibility; it’s going to be a great evening and they (students) will learn it’s possible to have a great prom to remember for all the right reasons and without alcohol,” Felsen added, saying he had researched several Toronto area schools that have similar policies. “After the initial shock (by students) about the announcement, we talked to the students (at an assembly) to explain the decision. Some were upset, but we hope they can rise above that and realize they can have a good time without alcohol.”

As additional measures to help get the message of a safe prom across, the school has organized an assembly with a community response unit officer to speak about the dangers of drinking and students will be informed of the breathalyzer regulations before purchasing their tickets.

“Please support my efforts to ensure a safe evening full of wonderful memories for all the students,” Felsen wrote to parents. “Please do not provide alcohol to students prior to their arrival at the prom. If students complain that you are too strict about this, you can remind them that prom is a school event and all school events must be alcohol free. Or, you can blame it on me.”