A high school in Georgia told a 17-year-old student that she could not take her date to the prom because he is too old. Ariell Toussaint asked her father Ronald to be her date because she told him that he is "the best man that she knows."
"She explained it to me,” Toussaint said. “Told me that I'm the best man that she knows.”
But, the fact that he is her father did not matter to school officials who cited a policy the said prom dates cannot be older than 20-years-old. The school also forbids parents from attending, even as chaperones. The event will be staffed by teachers and administrators from the school.
Roland said he just bought his daughter a prom dress and that she is "pretty upset" about the situation.
"She's actually pretty upset,” Toussaint told Channel 2. “It's my job to dress it up and make it look good. I've been trying to do that on one hand and fighting on the other hand."
The single father of three said he was able to get a full refund for the suit he purchased for the event.
He said the school should allow him to attend prom with his daughter because if "it makes her feel comfortable then that should be fine."
“It should be my child comes first, right?” Toussaint said. “And whatever she needs. If she needs me to come to the prom with her, it makes her feel comfortable then that should be fine.”
It does not appear likely that the school officials will change their mind ahead of the prom, which is scheduled for Saturday.