Photo Of Paulding Students Packed Into Hallway Goes Viral

DALLAS, GA — Photos of maskless students packed into a hallway at North Paulding High School sparked nationwide outrage Tuesday after they went viral.

“There is no question that the photo does not look good,” Paulding superintendent Brian Otott wrote in an email Tuesday to parents. “I can understand if your first reaction was one of concern.”

WSB-TV in Atlanta confirmed that the photo was taken at dismissal time Monday by a 10th grader. Students are crowded next to each other, and most aren’t wearing masks.

Otott wrote in the letter that the photo was being taken out of context to “criticize our school reopening efforts.

“Under the COVID-19 protocols we have adopted, class changes that look like this may happen, especially at a high school with more than 2,000 students," he wrote.

Still, Otott said he won’t mandate masks.

“Wearing a mask is a personal choice and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them,” Otott wrote. “What we will do is continue to strongly encourage all students and staff to wear masks.”

Paulding County was one of the first metro Atlanta school districts to open for in-person instruction. About 70 percent of its 30,000 students returned to classrooms Monday.

The day before classes started, North Paulding principal Gabe Carmona had to tell parents that some members of the football team already had tested positive for COVID-19 and had probably interacted with their children.

As of Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported that Paulding County has 1,495 residents test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Nineteen Paulding County residents have died from COVID-19 as of Tuesday. Almost all were elderly, most had pre-existing health conditions and none were younger than 45. However, the coronavirus can be spread by those showing no symptoms to people who are vulnerable.

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