High school principal in Sacramento informs parents of ‘racial slur and hate crime’
A high school principal in Sacramento on Tuesday told parents an investigation is underway after graffiti with a racial slur was found on a wall outside the campus gym facing its new soccer field.
West Campus High School Principal John McMeekin also said in a letter to parents that he’s aware of online activity, including social media, that contains racially derogatory statements directed at the school’s Assistant Principal Elysse Versher, along with threatening electronic communications made directly to her family.
McMeekin said he was notified on Monday afternoon that the graffiti was found on the wall in the back of the 58th Street campus. The graffiti was spotted Saturday, the principal wrote in the letter posted online by Fox 40 which first reported on the school’s investigation.
“This graffiti is a racial slur and hate crime, will not be tolerated and has since been removed,” McMeekin wrote in the letter to parents. “Behaviors such as these that are racially motivated have no place at West Campus.”
He said information about the graffiti and the hateful statements about the assistant principal and messages to her family have been given to the Sacramento Police Department. McMeekin wrote that the matters “will be investigated to the fullest extent possible, and appropriate disciplinary consequences will be applied.”
The principal told parents that West Campus High is an inclusive community, and officials at the Sacramento City Unified School District site would not condone racism in any form.
“We have much work to do as a community in order to heal from this,” McMeekin wrote in the letter. “Regardless of how any individual feels about our school’s policies, there is simply no place for hate speech or threatening behavior. We must learn to exercise our rights to express our opinions in a civil and respectful manner.”
