School district under fire after photos surface of sixth-graders practicing ... trends now

A Michigan school district has come under fire after sixth-graders were pictured practicing pole dancing while on a class field trip.

The band teacher at Hart Middle School took sixth-graders to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra back in November.

But a school board member revealed that during the course of the field trip, the students were taken to lunch at Niki's Pizza — which is connected to Niki's Lounge, a strip club in the Motor City.

The pizzeria was said to be too overcrowded so the students were moved to Niki's Lounge, where some students were pictured swinging on stripper poles.

In a statement to FOX News, a spokesperson with the Rochester Communities Schools confirmed that the students did, indeed get lunch at Niki's, but would not comment on the incident further.

Photos of Nikis Lounge posted to its Instagram show long bars and stripper poles.

It advertises itself as the premiere nightclub in the Motor City, but a flyer on its Instagram shows that it has at least hosted strippers with 'sexy ladies' in bikinis.

The flyer said: 'Guys bring your singles.'

But the spokesperson for the school district just said that parents with concerns should reach out directly to their school administrators. 

'Rochester Community Schools appreciates the  strong teacher and caregiver partnerships as we work together to enhance classroom learning opportunities.

'Parents and caregivers are always encouraged throughout the school year to contact their school administrator with questions or concerns.'

The spokesperson added: 'Proposed field trips are evaluated by a curriculum team and require a parental/guardian permission slip. 

'RCS may ask parents, caregivers or other responsible adults to serve as field trip chaperones when appropriate. 

'Adult chaperones are required to complete background checks,' the spokesperson continued, noting, 'The safety and security of our students, staff and school community is always our top priority.'

Now, a school board trustee is publicly questioning why the district won't be transparent about what happened. 

Andrew Weaver posted about the incident on his blog last Friday, noting that Niki's is located in an area that the Detroit Police Department monitors as part of its Project Green Light Detroit, where local businesses work with the police department to install real-time cameras that connect directly to the police headquarters.

Weaver has since taken down the post, but wrote on Sunday: 'The post was factual and offered no judgment or opinion. The information that was shared came from community members sharing it via social media. The information was not gained through my role as a Trustee.

'As I have stated previously and a key foundation of my promise to the public, there needs to be more focus on the actions that reflect poorly on our District. 

'Many community members feel that there is too much time and energy spent trying to stop people from knowing about the actions that reflect poorly on the District while not enough time or energy is spent on actually doing anything about the issue(s) at hand.

'As board members, it is critical that we remain objective and not allow personal biases to influence what concerns we take seriously and which ones we minimize,' he continued. 

'While we may all want to believe no one would act intentionally to put students in harm’s way, it would be irresponsible to make a case-specific statement without having considered the details unique to this particular situation.