A group of students from a Melbourne high school are boycotting their formal after 20 pupils were told they would be barred from attending the event.
About 30 frustrated Balwyn High School Year 12 students have demanded refunds for their $138 formal tickets after finding out their friends had been blacklisted from the event under ambiguous attendance requirements.
The Herald Sun reports a total of 20 students were told they wouldn’t be allowed to attend the formal because they did not display a ‘positive commitment to their studies’ or ‘behave in a respectful, inclusive manner towards their peers, teachers and the community’.
It is understood the students were also told they had not met uniform or attendance requirements throughout the year.
The students only found out they had been banned after they purchased their tickets for the event at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on June 8.
After protests from students that didn’t want to sit at an empty table’, the school sent an email on Wednesday stating it was ‘now in a position to offer a refund to any student that does not wish to participate in the event’.
However the email also reiterated endorsement of the decision to barr students based on ‘their compliance with school policies and expectations’.
The deadline for student refund applications is set for Friday at 9am.
The decision has been widely criticised within the school who believe the attendance requirements are too vague for students to be held to.
A change.org petition calling for the students to be allowed to attend their formal has gained 200 signatures and several students have highlighted that the school prides itself on being an inclusive environment.
The petitions said that some of the students ‘have their own personal reasons for not being able to meet the criteria, but instead of addressing their wellbeing, the school has chosen to punish our peers’.
One message under the petition said: ‘the school principal team should be ashamed of excluding students because of a uniform and attendance policy when they hypocritically foster a so-called culture of learning to live together’.
‘(The school) prides itself on student voices and leadership but they aren’t listening to us now,’ one student told Herald Sun.
‘We’ve missed out on so much due to Covid and instead of taking that into consideration we are being excluded for wearing the wrong uniform or being late to class. They want us to be inclusive but they are not including everyone.’
Balwyn High School principal Deborah Harman said that only a ‘very small number’ of students were banned from the Year 12 formal.
‘We will continue to work with our students to ensure they understand the school’s policies, but we won’t compromise on having a respectful and safe school community for everyone,’ she said.
Balwyn High School also made headlines on Wednesday for charging students $130 for a ‘homelessness tour’.
The school planned for students to visit the Melbourne Museum and Big Issue workshop, as well complete a walking tour of Melbourne’s CBD to gain ‘a real-life insight into homelessness and disadvantage’.