There will be no grinding this year at Gorham High School – nor any other kind of dance moves – as school officials have ended all dances except the annual prom.

Instead, activities such as bonfires are planned.

In an email letter to parents on Sept. 29, Gorham High School Principal Christopher Record announced the end of school dances, blaming the decision on the sexually suggestive dance craze known as grinding.

“I can’t condone it anymore,” Record said Wednesday by telephone. “I’ve actually received numerous support emails from parents, former parents, alumni and even people out of state.”

Record said discontinuing the dances was a tough decision.

“I know people are disappointed and so am I,” he said.

A couple of Gorham students who did not want to be identified expressed dismay Tuesday, but one acknowledged some students had gone too far. Another described the decision to cancel the dances as rash.

Record said in his letter to parents: “Before my arrival in 2008 and since, GHS administration, dance chaperones, some students, and some parents have struggled with the modern dance culture.”

There’s no homecoming dance this weekend. It was to be replaced with a bonfire on Friday, Oct. 9, but Record said Wednesday the threat of rain has postponed the bonfire to Friday, Oct. 23, following a football home game against Westbrook.

Record said in his letter that last year during the homecoming dance it was announced that grinding was not allowed.

“This led to a walk-out of two-thirds of the students in attendance,” Record wrote.

The grinding led to cancellation of school dances last year. A 2015 graduate, who was there when students walked from the gym, said he thought canceling the dances is a wrong decision.

“I believe ways of slowly changing the dance culture would have been a more plausible method,” the alumnus, who also did not want to be named, said in an email response to the American Journal. “However, the GHS administration has taken a step which they believe is a positive one.”

Record said he’s received about 100 emails on the issue in the past couple of days. But School Committee Chairman Dennis Libby said before Tuesday’s Gorham Town Council meeting, “I haven’t had a one.”

All the high schools in the country, Record said, are trying to deal with the issue, as are surrounding school districts.

“I think we’re all struggling with how to manage our culture today,” Record said.

In Tuesday’s Gorham Town Council meeting, Libby said students were informed of the dancing decision during the first days of school this fall. But, news hit the airwaves Tuesday as media outlets converged on Gorham. The issue now has been a local radio and trending social media topic. It made TV news in Boston.

“It is only with the recent news coverage that it has become an issue debated within the community,” Libby told town councilors Tuesday.

“After several attempts to work through the issue, it became clear that there wasn’t a clear method to ensure that grinding would not occur at the next dance,” he said.

Libby said the main focus is safety at the school.

“And the fact is that with many students grinding at dances, this just wasn’t the atmosphere being created.”

Record, in his letter to parents, denied he made the decision to cancel dances last year and said senior class and Student Council officers chose not to hold their dances.

For the 2015-16 school year, Record said, the high school administrators have recommended dance alternatives like a homecoming bonfire.

“We believe the U.S. dance culture has moved beyond what a high school can condone or control effectively,” Record wrote.

Windham faced a similar dilemma and high school groups there no longer sponsor dances.

“In 2010, Windham High School administration came to a very similar conclusion as that of Mr. Record and his administrative team,” Kelli Deveaux of Gorham, an assistant principal at Windham High School, said Wednesday. “We shared our concerns in a letter to students and parents, and held a series of meetings with both to clearly define the problem and discuss possible solutions or alternatives.

“Based on the work of the students, who decided to research and develop a plan, we launched dance expectations and enforcement strategies that they came up with, along with an educational component,” she said.

Deveaux said school staff had to provide reminders, but faced little defiance.

“By 2013, our students became increasingly disinterested in attending dances, to the point where they were no longer profitable options for the clubs and classes that sponsored them,” Deveaux said.

The lack of revenue ended dances at Windham High School.

Deveaux said the traditional prom continues in Windham and the one in Gorham also will go on.

“The student decorum at prom has always been better because they are dressed up, it is a classier event, they have paid significant money to be there, the dance has fewer students to monitor, there are fewer younger students and multiple other reasons,” Record wrote in his letter.

Today’s students, Record pointed out, are inundated with a sexualized culture.

“I’m not blaming our students,” Record said Wednesday. “I remain very proud of Gorham High School, the students and the community.”

Libby offered some hope dances could be re-instituted.

“During this time out, the school administration plans to work with students to help develop some safeguards to be able to reinstate dances back to the high school,” Libby said.

On a lighter note, when Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney asked Libby in Tuesday’s Town Council meeting to present the school report, he injected some humor.

“There’s no dancing in front of the stage,” Phinney said.

Principal Chris Record