Six students will be disciplined for their roles in spelling out a racial slur instead of their team’s name during a halftime show at a high school football game in Georgia last week, district officials told The Post.
The marching band members from Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County — two black students, one Asian and one Hispanic — arranged themselves to spell out the word “c—n” rather than their team, the Broncos, during its game against Lakeside High School on Friday.
Those students, along with two others who lied to school officials about the prank, are facing unspecified disciplinary action, district spokesman Bernard Watson confirmed early Tuesday.
“They thought it would be funny, they thought it was a joke,” Watson said. “But it’s not a joke and it’s not funny. It was unacceptable, inappropriate and hurtful, and it doesn’t reflect the values of the school or its community.”
Watson declined to elaborate on the punishment the students face, citing privacy concerns, but said no other members of the marching band would be reprimanded for the incident, including staffers and its director.
“Technically, they’re still trying to wrap up the investigation,” Watson said. “We’re just taking it one day at a time, but we’re disappointed by the decision-making and actions of those four students. There’s nothing funny about it. Their actions not only reflect poorly on them, but also the school and the community.”
Some parents who spotted the offensive halftime display said they wanted those involved to be expelled, saying their actions made their son uncomfortable about returning to school.
“You’re bold enough on senior night, that means your parents and grandparents are there … you’re bold enough to spell those words, and stay long enough to have everyone take pictures?” mother Shawn Myers told WAGA. “That’s not right.”
The school’s principal said the incident was a “teachable moment” in one of two letters sent home to parents since Saturday.
“I am hurt and disappointed in these students and their actions that have stunned our community,” principal William Bo Ford wrote. “As you all know, this is not who we are. Brookwood is proud to be an inclusive and accepting school community. This is a teachable moment for all of us, and students need to be aware that their actions and words have consequences.”
A former band member at the school, meanwhile, said she and her classmates never took part in any pranks or senior class stunts similar to what occurred Friday.
“Shock and complete dismay,” the woman, who graduated in 2002, told The Post of her reaction upon seeing the controversial display. “I was blown away that that would happen anywhere, much less a classy establishment like where I went to school.”
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said her classmates once spelled out a sign using tampons, but that was during band camp rather than a game.
“That’s totally unacceptable,” she said. “Nobody wants that kind of attention.”