Hough High School moves prom over scheduling mix-up

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A high school in Cornelius moved prom hours before the event due to a scheduling mix-up Saturday.

Many students took to social media after William A. Hough High School moved their prom from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in uptown Charlotte to Extravaganza Event Center off North Tryon Street.

The school’s Parent Teacher Student Association sent out a Facebook message to students and parents stating there was an emergency change to prom Saturday, hours before the event was set to take place.

“I’m sure CMS reviews all contracts before they're signed,” parent Dena Parzygnot said.  “How could you sign a prom contract and not know the date?  I just find that very hard to believe.”

She said her son and his friends planned the whole night around the location of the prom.  “Meals are all booked around the Ritz, after parties are all booked around the Ritz.”

Safety is also a concern for some students and parents.

“Who wants to be on North Tryon with their 18 year old kids?” Parzygnot said.  “You know how that area is, if they know there's a big event, they'll be mulling around waiting for people outside who knows what could happen.”

Despite the mix-up, most student are just happy the prom committee was able to pull off the last minute change,

“We just have to shift some stuff around,” student Douglas Gates said.  “Whoever's doing it, it's still going to be a fun time no matter where we're at, so I'm still very excited to go.”

I went to the Ritz last year, super nice, so I’m kind of excited to try a new place this year I can't wait,” Danielle Depaolis told us.  “We looked up pictures and it looks really nice.”

A spokesperson for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in uptown said the hotel had the prom contracted for next week, but CMS had the date for this weekend.

"We tried everything possible to work the events. We had two weddings scheduled tonight and tried to accommodate everyone," a Ritz-Carlton spokesperson said.

The school released this statement:

The location for Hough High School's senior and junior prom has been changed to the Extravaganza Event Center (1610 North Tryon St.). The prom will start at 8 p.m. and end at midnight as scheduled. The change is due to a miscommunication by the Hough prom planning committee and not the Ritz Carlton. We thank the Extravaganza Center Staff for graciously hosting tonight's prom on short notice and working to provide our seniors with a memorable prom experience. Hough High staff will assess if any prom ticket refunds will be provided.

The school also announced the change of venue on their Twitter page.

Cox Media Group