A Michigan school district is under severe criticism after allegedly taking sixth-graders to a restaurant that includes a stripper halland allegedly threaten legal action against the administrator who exposed the scandal.
The incident reportedly took place on November 16, when the Sixth grade band and orchestra students from Hart Middle School in Rochester Hills visited Detroit hotspot Niki’s Pizza, after a performance by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Located in the Greektown neighborhood, Niki’s Pizza operates in conjunction with Niki’s Lounge, an adult nightclub.
“The students fThey were moved from Niki’s Pizza due to lack of available space to the lounge where they tried out a bit of pole dancing.” alleged Rochester Community Schools (RCS) administrator and parent Andrew Weaver in a Jan. 6 Facebook post.
Sixth grade students from Hart Middle School in Rochester Hills, Michigan are seen playing on “stripper poles” during the November field trip.
In addition to a photo of the children playing in the tubes, Weaver’s post, which was shared with followers of her Finding the Right Answer blog, includes images of Niki’s adult room scene and the drinks menu.
Weaver’s post quickly made the rounds on social media, where @LibsofTikTok shared it on Twitter. RCS subsequently blocked the controversial account as the story gained steam.
In a statement to the Daily Caller, RCS executive director of strategic communication Lori Grein denied that the district was taking the students “to a restaurant attached to a ‘strip club.'”
“Proposed field trips are evaluated by a curriculum team and require a parent/guardian permission slip,” he continued.
“The safety of our students, staff, and school community is always our priority.”
Niki’s owner, Agatha Kefallinos, told the outlet that the school knew about the seating arrangement when she made the reservation.
“Usually, when we have a group of more than 100 people, we give them the option of going to our second floor, which functions as a club on Saturday nights, but is closed during the day”he explained.
“We have been doing this for 20 years. We have had dozens of school groups and there was never a problem.
Kefallinos also said the metal poles are not stripper poles, but just “part of the decorations.”
Despite the district’s denial of wrongdoing, Weaver, who was running for conservatorship on a platform of greater transparency between schools and parents, doubled down on his stance that RCS failed to adequately address the situation.
“As I have said before and a key foundation of my promise to the public, there needs to be more focus on actions that reflect poorly on our district,” he wrote on his Facebook admin profile Jan. 8.
“Many community members feel that too much time and energy is spent trying to keep people from knowing about actions that reflect badly on the district, while not enough time or energy is spent doing anything about the issues at hand. . ”
Weaver also accused the district of trying to intimidate him, writing on January 11 that Superintendent Robert Shaner sent a letter to officials on December 21 encouraging the board to “take immediate steps to ensure compliance with Mr. Weaver’s protocol” while threatened to seek “legal redress”.
Hart Middle School is part of the Rochester Community Schools district.
This isn’t Weaver’s first run-in with the thornier side of RCS. As a parent, he claims to have received two cease and desist letters from the district over social media posts critical of pandemic policies and remote learning.
It also says Shaner filed a police report against him for making “false accusations and insults” during a mask exchange at a school board meeting.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the district denied any threats against Weaver.
“On December 21, 2022, Dr. Shaner delivered a letter to the Board of Education. The correspondence reinforced the need for a new board member to comply with the board bylaws and the code of cooperation so that the district’s focus can remain on the education of all RCS students,” the statement read.
“The letter did not include any threats.”
Speaking with Detroit News editor Kaitlyn Buss, Weaver said she’s not intimidated in her crusade for accountability, however.
“That’s why I ran,” he said.
