Sacramento school district investigates racist graffiti at second campus in four days
Racist graffiti was discovered Tuesday morning at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School, four days after another Sacramento City Unified School District campus was marked with racist graffiti over a water fountain.
The disturbing graffiti was found on an exterior wall at Lincoln Elementary, the school district announced Tuesday evening in a news release. The school was closed on Monday in observance of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
District officials said school staff painted over the graffiti as soon as it was discovered, and support services were being offered to students and staff “traumatized by this racist incident.” The school district did not provide any further details about the graffiti.
“It is appalling that anyone would target a school with racist graffiti and subject students, staff and families to messages of hate,” Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar said in the news release. “With support from law enforcement, we will fully investigate this incident. We also want each of our students to know that they are loved and cared for while we work to confront racism in any form.”
The school district pledged to “fully investigate” the racist vandalism and is consulting with the Rancho Cordova Police Department on what to do next. The campus, located at 3324 Glenmoor Drive, sits within Rancho Cordova police jurisdiction.
District officials said they will take appropriate action if they determine a student or anyone associated with Lincoln Elementary or the school district was involved.
“The Sacramento City Unified School Board condemns acts of racism in the strongest possible terms,” Sacramento City Unified School Board President Christina Pritchett said in the news release. “We are saddened and outraged to see events like this occur in places that are meant to be welcoming safe havens for all of our students and staff. We ask that any member of our community with information come forward and join us in condemning this hurtful act.”
On Friday, racist graffiti was found scrawled over a water fountain at C.K. McClatchy High School with a message that alluded to segregation. A photo, taken Friday and circulated on social media, shows someone wrote “colored” on one side of the dual water fountain and “white” on the other side.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 7:34 PM.
