Jonesboro dance coach removed after team’s risque act

A Clayton County school employee can no longer coach a Jonesboro High School dance team because the students performed a provocative dance at a basketball game that offended some spectators.

School officials said Wednesday that the dance team coach has been removed as the team’s adviser and is now being investigated by the human resources department. District spokesman Charles White declined to identify the coach, saying it is a personnel matter.

On Jan. 13, the girls performed in thigh-high stockings, tiny shorts and tight shirts during halftime at a Jonesboro High boys’ basketball game, an online video shows. The girls danced on chairs, then boys came out of the crowd to sit on the chairs while the girls danced in front of them, the video showed.

Helen Arnold, who attended the game with her daughter, a sophomore at Jonesboro, said she was shocked and wrote a letter to the school principal.

“I blame the sponsor for putting the girls in that position,” Arnold said. “I think the girls were too young to understand how inappropriate it was.”

When a school administrator previewed the dance before the game, the girls were not wearing the costumes or performing that kind of dance, White said.

“They were dressed in regular clothes. We believe there were some changes made at the time of the performance,” White said.Following the performance, parents complained and the school launched an investigation. The team has since been disbanded and prohibited from performing or practicing for the rest of the school year, school officials said. The dancers were not disciplined. The school’s step team will perform at halftime for the remainder of the basketball season, said Jacqueline Evans, a district spokeswoman. All routines must be screened by staff before the performance, Evans said.