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Staff members at a high school in Kentucky are in hot water after images showed them getting lap dances from students during a homecoming event. The photos, which were posted to the Hazard High School Athletic page before being taken down, showed male and female students dressed in provocative clothing dancing and grinding on staff members in the school's gymnasium.
When Hazard Independent School District Superintendent Sondra Combs saw the photos circulating on social media, she immediately launched an investigation.
"I found photos of inappropriate student-led activities that had since surfaced on social media. The district has the responsibility to address these issues that arise out of school-based activities. As a district, we are doing exactly that," Combs said in a statement.
Combs said the homecoming activities, which included a "man pageant," were "driven by the students."
"We strive to foster creativity in our students, but unfortunately, this time, it was carried too far," she said.
According to the Courier-Journal, one of the staff members seen in the photos was the school's principal Donald Mobelini. He is also the city's mayor.
Combs said that "appropriate disciplinary action has been taken" but could not provide details because it was a personnel matter. She said that school officials will create a committee to review student events to ensure something like this does not happen in the future.
"While we value our student's creativity, we also must ensure that it is focused in an appropriate direction and will be more vigilant toward that goal in the future," she wrote. "At the end of the day, the lighthearted activity simply got out of hand, and for that, we apologize. In the future, we will strive to keep the lighthearted, fun nature of school activities without the inappropriate behavior."