Georgia’s largest high school is working to improve its implementation of Gwinnett County Public Schools’ mask mandate after video of a crowded indoor pep rally showed most students wearing masks improperly or not at all, according to a district spokesman.
“Mill Creek High’s leadership team is using the event as a teachable moment, reemphasizing the importance of enforcing the mask mandate and taking steps to prevent what happened during the pep rally from happening again,” Bernard Watson, the district’s director of community and media relations, said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Mill Creek, which enrolls about 3,700 students, held two pep rallies earlier this month before a football game against rival North Gwinnett High School. Each rally invited half the student body but attendance was not mandatory, Watson said.
The rallies took place in a gymnasium because of the weather and other scheduled performances and activities, Watson said. School leaders also wanted to minimize the time that it took to transition back to the classroom, which would have taken longer from the stadium, he said.
Before and during the rally, announcements about the mask mandate were made over the school’s public address system, Watson said. School administrators at gym entrance made sure students were wearing their masks properly, he said.
“They also actively enforced the mandate during the pep rally,” Watson said. “With that said, there was room for improvement. Video of the event clearly shows some students violated the policy and additional staff was needed. Gwinnett County Public Schools is committed to keeping students and staff safe via its mask requirement and other COVID-19 mitigation strategies.”
