Teacher on Leave After Snapchat Rant About Prom Overspending

Between the dresses and tuxedos, the tickets, and the ride, it’s easy to spend a lot of money on prom. One teacher who noticed that people were splurging on prom as opposed to, say, school supplies, expressed her opinion about it publicly — and is now being punished.

Teacher Caitlin Cormack is under fire for a Snapchat post complaining about how much money kids spend on prom.
Teacher Caitlin Cormack is under fire for a Snapchat post complaining about how much money kids spend on prom. (Photo: Snapchat/news5cleveland.com)

On May 12, Caitlin Cormack, a middle school teacher in Bedford, Ohio, took to Snapchat to express her frustration with students and parents choosing to overspend on prom but not on school supplies or a tutor. “These … kids and parents … not enough money for school supplies or passing grades but out here renting horses,” Cormack wrote over a selfie. In the photo, she looked frustrated.

According to News 5 Cleveland, a parent confirmed that “renting horses” refers to the horse-drawn carriages that took some students to prom Friday night. It appears a few parents follow Cormack and complained about the post. Now she’s been put on administrative leave.

The school district’s superintendent, Andrea Celico, told News 5 Cleveland that “the incident is under investigation” and that she was “disappointed in what has happened.”

Celico added that Cormack “is very saddened by this, and it’s certainly a hard lesson to learn for everyone.”

So what’s the big deal? “I think it’s very disrespectful to the parents,” John Bouldin, the parent of a senior at Bedford High School, told News 5. “We do pay taxes in this city, so that teachers can make a nice salary to do their jobs, not to comment about our kids.”

That, and it’s in violation of the school’s social media code, which states that “on social media pages, faculty and staff are viewed as representatives of the District and should operate under the expectation that their online statements are publicly viewable.” Discussion of “individual students … via social media” is also prohibited.

While Cormack does have a great point — teens drop between $600 and $700 to go to prom, according to Yahoo Style’s exclusive new Prom Across America survey — we’re guessing struggling department stores wouldn’t be on her side, since the majority of teens across the country are still buying their prom dresses in stores, our survey found. This means prom dresses serve as a lifeboat for struggling retailers.

Cormack could not be reached by the news outlet for comment.

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