Elliot in the Morning has been dumped.
He won’t be attending Marshall High School’s June 8 prom at the Torpedo Factory after all, says Kitty Porterfield, director of communications for Fairfax County Public Schools.
Daniel Domenech, Superintendent of Schools, made the decision to disinvite Elliot and his WWDC-FM morning show crew, better known as DC101, after an on-the-air discussion between Elliot and two callers who identified themselves as Bishop O’Connell High School students, Porterfield said.
“Having listened to the tape [of that discussion] it just seemed [Elliot’s attendance] was not appropriate at a school-sponsored activity. All the adults who listened thought it was inappropriate,” Porterfield said.
The two callers' conversation with Elliot contained sexually provocative subject matter, Porterfield said, including braggadocio about sex acts allegedly performed within the walls of O’Connell High School.
Domenech’s decision “came out of a number of meetings,” said Porterfield.
Marshall High School Principal Leslie Butz met with school officials as well as the students involved and their parents.
Butz “met with Elliot twice, and explained it to him,” Porterfield said. “She had two rational, if not cordial conversations. She explained to him what the issues were.”
Butz then mailed him a letter, confirming Domenech’s decision to disinvite Elliot and four other DC101 morning show personalities who had planned to attend Marshall’s prom.
On the next morning’s show, “[Elliot] excoriated her, and the school, and held her up to a fair amount of ridicule,” Porterfield said, “railing against our curtailment of free speech.
DC 101 program director Buddy Rizer said the morning show staff was disappointed.
“Everyone had signed off on this,” he said. “To pull out at the late date was a little frustrating,” he said.
“I don’t see how the situations [Marshall’s prom and the O’Connell students’ phone call] are similar.”
The morning show’s invitation to the prom was extended by a Marshall student who called the radio station and invited the news anchor, Diane, to attend the prom with him.
When the radio station participated in a similar prom at another high school last year, “It was fun for the school, and fun for the audience,” Rizer said.
“We decided to send the whole show” to Marshall as a way “to get involved with the community and the school.”
Porterfield was stoic about Elliot’s comments about Domenech’s decision.
“We certainly anticipated this might bring a strong and negative response from the show,” Porterfield said.
“In terms of the people sitting around the table, they felt it was better to be ridiculed about that kind of decision than exposing that many kids to inappropriate behavior and language,” she said.
“It was not an easy decision in that we were dealing with a kids’ prom, and a lot of expectation on the part of the students. No one wanted to ruin what should be the lovely end of a high school experience.
“A couple of students were very disappointed. Beyond that, the only response I know about was on the radio,” Porterfield said.
Phone calls seeking comment from the principal at Bishop O’Connell High School were not returned, nor was Butz, the principal at Marshall, available for comment.