HS students gave lap dances to staff — including principal — for school's 'Man Pageant.' Now an investigation is underway.

Students dressed in very little clothing gave lap dances to staff members — including the principal — at a Kentucky public high school while girls dressed as Hooters waitresses during homecoming week activities Tuesday, the Courier-Journal reported.

The paper added that an investigation is underway to figure out what went down as part of Hazard High School's "Man Pageant" and "Costume Day," the paper said, citing the school's Facebook page.

Hazard is about two hours southeast of Lexington.

More from the Courier-Journal:

Photos that were subsequently taken down from the athletics department's Facebook page showed students in underclothing giving lap dances to faculty and staff, including Hazard High School Principal Donald "Happy" Mobelini, who is also mayor of the Perry County city.

Other photos on the athletics page that also were later taken down showed female students dressed up in "Hooters" outfits and students and staff appearing to paddle one another.

Mobelini, the principal and mayor, did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.

What did the superintendent and Kentucky Department of Education have to say?

Sondra Combs, superintendent of Hazard Independent Schools, told the paper that "the incident is being investigated, and once the investigation is complete, appropriate action will be taken."

Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Toni Konz Tatman added to the Courier Journal that the agency is "aware of what took place in Hazard Independent Schools" and has "been in contact with the superintendent, who has informed us that the incident is under investigation."

Konz Tatman also said in an email to the paper that "Kentucky law provides that school district superintendents are required to report instances of educator misconduct to the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB).Therefore, if the investigation finds a certified educator likely violated the Kentucky Educator Code of Ethics, the superintendent is required to report this to the EPSB for potential action."

Anything else?

The Courier Journal called attention to a Reddit thread about the Hazard High School incident titled "This is the mayor of my town being grinded on by a high school student dressed as a woman." As of Wednesday afternoon, it has 475 comments and 7,600 upvotes.

Aster Sizemore, a Hazard school board member, told the paper he was at the high school Tuesday but not at the events in question.

"Normally, the principal, Happy Mobelini, is pretty dad-gum strict, so that surprises me, unless someone pulled something out of a hat," Sizemore added to the Courier Journal. "A kid comes to school with a short dress, you know, he makes them go home and change."

More from the paper:

Mobelini was previously the subject of an investigation in 2008, when photos posted to Facebook showed him driving while his daughter and four of her teenage friends drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes in the vehicle.

The students and Mobelini all told district officials the principal did not know the girls had alcohol and were drinking, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported at the time.

The principal also came under scrutiny earlier in 2008, according to the Herald-Leader, when police charged 12 underage students with alcohol intoxication after they were found drinking on the Hazard High School football field.

Mobelini reportedly was with the students about 30 minutes before Hazard police arrived at the football field and found hard liquor and beer, but he said the students had not been drinking when he was still there.

According to the Herald-Leader, no charges were filed against him at the time.