School forbids student, 18, from bringing girlfriend, 22, to prom

School administrators at Manchester Central High School in New Hampshire are ruining one student’s prom this year, after reportedly informing him he couldn’t bring his 22-year-old girlfriend as his date.

Sultan Akhter, 18, told The Manchester Union Leader that he met his girlfriend, Kaitlyn Orzechowski, of Hookset, at the K-Mart store where they both work. Orzechowski is also a graduate of the school, but is now a graduating senior at St. Anselm College.

“It’s my last fling with my friends,” Akhter told the paper. “All my friends are bringing their dates; they’re going to have a good time. I can’t have a good time with my girlfriend.”

School officials reportedly said that, while the rule isn’t written down anywhere, the school has long blocked anyone from attending prom over the age of 21.

“This is a school-level procedure developed over the years to address problems they’ve had in the past,” Asssistant Superintendent Chris Martin told the Leader. “We want to make sure everyone is behaving at the prom. That rule was set for safety’s sake.”

Martin also mentioned underaged drinking as a problem, the paper said, though 21-year-olds can legally drink as well.

Akhter, a member of the school’s tennis team and marketing club, told the paper that Orzechowski doesn’t drink or use drugs.

Martin will be appealing the decision to the school board next week, the report said.