The photos, which were shared on social media and cited in news reports, have quickly come to symbolize a chaotic first week back in U.S. classrooms. Schools in states where students have returned, including Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Indiana, have had to initiate quarantines and in some cases shut down classrooms and entire schools temporarily become positive cases emerged.
A 15-year-old student at North Paulding, Hannah Watters, was suspended for five days for posting images of the crowded hallways on Twitter, according to her mother, Lynne Watters, who said she filed a grievance with the school on Thursday morning. North Paulding’s principal, Gabe Carmona, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The superintendent of the Paulding County School District, Brian Otott, defended his system’s reopening plan after the hallway photos circulated, saying in a letter to the community that they were taken out of context. Students only remained in the hallways briefly while…
