Videos posted on social media this week have shined a light on years’ worth of provocative skits performed by students and condoned by teachers at a Kentucky high school.
Hazard High School first drew attention after their 2021 homecoming celebration included a “Man Pageant” that featured students in undergarments giving lap dances, performances that were videoed and then subsequently posted on the high school’s Facebook page.
The Hazard Independent Schools District launched an investigation due to the racy footage and initially deemed it an isolated incident, saying vaguely that “appropriate disciplinary action” had been taken without actually outlining what it might have been or who had been punished.
But new videos of previous skits shared with the Louisville Courier Journal after that announcement showed similar actions.
In an Instagram video from October 2017, a male student wearing a bra, shorts and a wig was shown grinding on a pair of fellow male students seated in chairs in the gymnasium. A fourth student appears in the skit “making it rain” with a wad of what appears to be cash.
A different video shows a male student writhing on the ground in a long white dress and wig to Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.” He proceeds to run his hands over Principal Donald “Happy” Mobelini’s head and chest while Mobelini claps to the beat.
Students and staff members seen in the video are wearing facemasks, indicating that the events in that particular video occurred after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement emailed to the Courier Journal on Wednesday, before the other videos surfaced, District Superintendent Sondra Combs wrote, “At the end of the day, the light-hearted 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.”
Combs has not commented since the revelation of the most recent video footage.
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