Students battling cancer banned from prom at Georgia high school; decision reversed after outrage

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
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While two Georgia high school students were fighting cancer throughout the school year, they faced another battle with not being able to attend prom.

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Collier Savelle and Matthew English have a lot in common. They both currently attend Lee County High School and they both battled cancer.

According to WALB-TV, Lee County High School’s principal did not allow Savelle and English to attend prom due to missing too many school days.

English was reportedly diagnosed with epitheliod sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the soft tissues. To stop the cancer from spreading, English traveled to Atlanta and had his arm amputated in February.

“I just do my normal routine and I try not to think about how I’m doing all that stuff,” English told WALB-TV.

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Lee County Schools handbook states absences must not exceed a cumulative total of six days per school year, and students cannot already have absences in excess of 10 days. These absences must be pre-approved by the principal with input from the attendance officer in order to be excused. Excuses provided by the parent/guardian(s) regarding a student’s illnesses can only cover twelve days per school year.

Although it was not said how many days English or Savelle missed in total, WALB-TV reported that with the school policy, both students missed too many days to participate in prom.

As the days of prom grew near, the school’s policy spread like wildfire to social media with hundreds of parents and classmates voicing their concerns, WALB states.

With just hours leading up to prom, the school reversed its decision.

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“I’m very excited for him. All of our family just texting in the group so excited. We’re happy for him because we knew that’s a big step for him,” Matthew’s mother Ronnie English said. The community rallied around and… we’re just blessed. We were very happy he was able to go. It made it a very happy Mother’s Day,” Ronnie said.

Matthew told WALB-TV that he had fun at prom.

Savelle’s family did not want to make a comment.

According to WALB-TV, the Lee County Schools did not provide why they had the change of heart.

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