MIDWAY, N.C. — Parents are outraged after seeing a video circulating on social media of a pep rally at Oak Grove High School.
Parents said the video shows inappropriate behavior that should not be displayed at school.
The video in its entirety on social media is about 30 seconds.
We aren't going to show you the video just to protect the identities of the students pictured.
But it shows multiple people putting on a performance during a pep rally at Oak Grove High.
Once this video started making its rounds online, parents started chiming in. Some said it shocked them.
"I mean you have schools that are closing for threats and then you have this nasty stuff going on. It blows my mind," Patricia Aldridge, a grandparent of Davidson County Schools students, said.
Another parent had similar concerns.
"That's craziness to even allow that. Somebody had to allow it. There wasn't no teachers in there at all. There wasn't nobody there. Somebody was in there," Alan Smith, a father of a student who will one day attend Oak Grove High, said.
The Davidson County Schools Board of Education said the investigation is ongoing.
People involved have been interviewed but that process was put on hold after a threat was made to the school recently.
The school board said sheriff's deputies have been in the parking lot to ensure safety.
After the pep rally, OGHS principal Stefanie Stroud sent a voicemail to the parents addressing the pep rally.
She said in part, "Disgusted, appalled, upset, embarrassed, and disappointed were all the words I used to describe to my family what I witnessed at the Oak Grove High School pep rally on Friday. These feelings accurately describe how I felt. As the principal, and as a parent, what took place on Friday is unacceptable and does not meet the standards of excellence we have worked to establish at Oak Grove. As the leader of the school, I take full responsibility for the actions of my students. I apologize to all of my students who were not involved in our Oak Grove community. My first order of business this week will be to address the issue appropriately. I can assure you this will not happen again under my leadership at Oak Grove High School. I ask for your continued support as I work to address the situation with students and staff."
While some parents were upset about the pep rally, WFMY News 2's Amber Lake also talked to one other parent of an Oak Grove High student who said she didn't know what the big deal was. She said the kids were having fun and the situation shouldn't be blown out of proportion.
Davidson County Schools interim superintendent Tabitha Broadway released a statement regarding the pep rally:
"We are aware of the video of high school students performing skits that are inappropriate for a school setting which has been repeatedly shared on social media. The principal of the school apologized to students, parents, and the community and vowed to put processes in place to prevent future incidents. We continue to evaluate the events to determine policies that may have been violated and appropriate consequences. This information will not be shared because educational records and personnel records are not public records.
As a result of the outrage on social media and those soliciting others to join in “taking this as far as necessary,” the video has gone viral, resulting in death threats against the school. While our administration at the school and district level, along with our board of education, agree completely that the student behavior in the video is inappropriate and unacceptable, the public response is posing a threat to the safety and security of students and staff in the school.
Because we believe the type of behavior displayed by students during the pep rally has no place in our schools, we absolutely plan to make adjustments to prevent future opportunities for such behavior. However, we also have serious concerns that there are people in our society who would react to these events with threats of violence."