GENTRY -- After a brief presentation by high school students Cassidy Ponder and Jessica Hernandez, board members voted unanimously to allow the 2014 prom to be held off campus.

Ponder and Hernandez, using a PowerPoint presentation, suggested the prom be held at UARK Bowl in Fayetteville and showed slides of the facility, its location, the close proximity of parking, its distance away from establishments that sell alcoholic beverages. The students argued that prom attendance has been declining and that most students who attend the prom begin their evening on the east side of the county at a restaurant.

Randy Barrett, Gentry Public School superintendent, confirmed that prom numbers have declined, with many arriving late because of eating first on the east side and then driving back for the prom.

The students said a Gentry police officer would be hired to provide protection at the prom, students attending the prom would be locked in and would not be readmitted if they left and adult supervision would be provided between the parking area across the street and the facility.

Barrett said he had no recommendation on the student request, but told board members that policy required them to pass a resolution giving permission before a prom could be held off campus.