What they've lost
The days after the photo were chaos. The girls received endless media attention, as well as harassment and some online threats of violence. Each of the girls' families found a lawyer and a public-relations agent to help them.
All six girls were suspended for at least 10 days and are finishing their high school classes through the district's online option. It's a sort of "unofficial expulsion," according to multiple people interviewed for this story, including Bri Handy, who created the change.org petition to have the girls expelled.
Handy marked her petition completed Feb. 26 after more than 50,000 people signed it. She said a source within the district told her that "the six students of this fiasco have not and will not be returning to the school."
At least three other students also were punished for their involvement with the photo, according to the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a civil-rights activist who has been involved in the incident's fallout.
Many of the girls have posted on social media about taking classes only online, and one posted that administrators said they could not attend the official grad-night party on May 19 even though it's after their suspension date, suggesting she or they may have been suspended for more than 10 days.
They've been banned from school functions, including championship games for the sports teams to which they belonged, dances such as Sadie Hawkins and prom, and likely their own graduation.
Handy said none of the girls will walk at graduation, while Maupin said he was unsure.
Two of the girls were on the varsity soccer team, which won the school's first girls soccer state championship since 2005 this spring without them.
At least one of them, who was the team captain, had verbally committed to play soccer for Northern Arizona University, but the school withdrew its offer. Had the incident occurred after national signing day, a commitment could have protected that opportunity.
One was on the girls' varsity track and field team. Another had been on the varsity dance line for two years ? last year she was part of the group that performed with Katy Perry during the Super Bowl halftime show ? but lost the chance to compete with the school in the 30th Annual Arizona State Cheer and Pom Tournament in March.
Rachel Steigerwald, who is the "R" in the photo and the only one of the girls to apologize publicly, posts often about sadness and regret. She wrote that she was heartbroken when she was banned from attending Relay for Life in April, an event in which hundreds of people walk the school's track overnight to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Maupin questions whether it had to be this way.
"It might have been good legal advice with respect to limiting disciplinary actions of the district but I think ? the court of public opinion would have been a lot more merciful had they seen a unified apology" from all of the girls, he said.
