Racist, homophobic slurs was scribbled on the San Dieguito Academy High School on New Year’s Day.
The vandalism was committed by one person at 3:55 a.m., according to leaders of the San Dieguito Union High School District.
On Monday, students, parents and local leaders assembled at a news conference to speak out against the incident.
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“The bottom line is, if these conversations aren’t had and we don’t talk about this, nothing is going to change." student Isabella Thierry said. “We have to have these uncomfortable conversations."
District leaders said after the media event that they understand the calls for dialogue being made by students and staff.
“I want the community to understand that our kids are doing so much to address this, the board is working to address this, the staff is working to address this,” San Diego Union High School District Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Ward said.
Local
A local chapter of the NAACP, the North County LGBTQ Resource Center and the North County Equity and Justice Coalition were among the groups in attendance at San Dieguito Academy High School.
“Too many times they let the administration know what’s going on, they let the teachers know, and nothing is being done, so we hope as an organization and a community that we can come in and support as much as we can to make sure that we have some significant changes going on,” North San Diego County NAACP vice-president Robert Jenkins said.
Ward told NBC7 that specific plans are in place.
“We have plans put in place to hire ombudsman to address any discrimination that happens in general, we have put in our No Place to Hate in all of our schools, working with the ADL that our kids and our staff have ways to be anti-biased to be upstanders,” Ward said.
School district and community leaders are working to prevent another incident from occurring, but district leaders can’t guarantee more incidents won't take place.
“I think if we see every kid, if we care for every kid, if we love every kid, we will have fewer incidents of this, period,” Ward said. “Now, will it all disappear away altogether? I can’t say that, because, again, there are so many other influencers out there that we have no control over.”
