- A New Hampshire high school marked students at their senior prom based on their vaccinated status, according to NBC10 Boston.
- The school's contact tracing system at the senior prom has caused outrage with parents, the report said.
- Unvaccinated students were labelled with a black marker, a state official told the outlet.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
A high school in New Hampshire created its own contact tracing system by marking unvaccinated and fully vaccinated students who attended its senior prom earlier this month, NBC10 Boston reported.
Students at Exeter High School's prom were labeled according to their vaccination status and the decision has received objections from parents and a state official, the outlet reported.
"Children that were not vaccinated were written on in black Sharpie on their hands and those that were vaccinated had some type of red marker put on them," Rep. Melissa Litchfield told NBC10 Boston.
Litchfield created a Facebook post bringing attention to the issue. In the post, the Republican state representative said she received messages from parents regarding the contact tracing system and included quotes of complaints. One person said: "We truly feel they are literally branding our kids" if they don't get the "approved vaccine."
"I'm just here because parents are afraid to speak up and they needed a voice and I understand," Litchfield told NBC10Boston.
The school district said that the students were told about the system before the prom, however, Litchfield said that the parents said they were not notified, according to the outlet. In a statement to the news station, Exeter High School Principal Mike Monahan said that the system, although not perfect, allowed the seniors to enjoy their prom.
"Our student and parent feedback has been extremely positive regarding the prom experience. We are aware that some concerns have been expressed that students were singled out or had their privacy violated. We made every effort possible - while adhering to contact tracing guidelines - to ensure that this did not happen," Exeter High School Principal told NBC10 Boston in a statement.
"We hope the community will understand that while no model is perfect, this model let the students enjoy a close to normal and highly desired experience to cap off their senior year. That's the memory we want to leave them with."