Albuquerque School’s Staff on Leave After Drag Show at Prom

A school district in Albuquerque, N.M., has placed employees at a high school on leave and installed a new acting principal as it investigates a performance by a drag queen at the prom this month.

Video on TikTok from the Atrisco Heritage Academy High School prom, held at a convention center on April 20, and published by an NBC affiliate, KOB 4, showed the drag performer in boots, stockings and a body suit dancing as the students were gathered around, watching.

On April 24, as the school’s Facebook page was flooded with comments that the show was inappropriate for minors, Channell Segura, the chief of schools at Albuquerque Public Schools, said in a letter to families that the district was investigating the performance to determine “what occurred and how students were impacted.”

The letter was published by local news stations and provided to the Times on Tuesday.

Another letter sent to families on April 25 named a new acting principal, Anthony Lovato, for the high school, according to the text published by KOAT, another local station. Mr. Lovato was apparently replacing the principal, identified as Irene Cisneros on the school’s website. Ms. Cisneros could not be reached by telephone on Tuesday.

Martin Salazar, a district spokesman, said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that the letter about Mr. Lovato was correct but he did not provide a copy. “We cannot comment on any specific personnel matters,” he said. “We can, however, confirm that employees have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”

A person who answered the phone at the school on Tuesday said Ms. Cisneros was not at the school but gave no details.