There’s frustration and anger in East Haddam Public Schools. State police are investigating a series of racist messages and videos that they say targeted a middle school student.
Some in the community are demanding the district take action against those responsible.
“This is not to be tolerated. I do not want my children to see this,” Brandon Spencer, a parent, said.
Visible anger from parents during Wednesday’s East Haddam Board of Education meeting. Many disgusted by the news that racist images and videos were sent to a student at Nathan Hale Ray Middle School. A current high school student appalled by the behavior.
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“People I care about are in this school and they are surrounded by this hatred that should not exist in schools,” Ashley St. Germaine, a high school student, said.
Anita Ford Saunders with the Middlesex NAACP has been in contact with the student’s family that was targeted. She says a group of students sent images and videos filled with anti-Black slurs and tropes.
“It appalls and amuses me that kids nowadays expect or either have so much privilege that they think nobody’s going to care what they say,” she said.
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Community groups like BLM860 asking where the students learned such hateful rhetoric.
“We’re hoping they were raised better, but that doesn’t seem to be the case,” Ivelisse Correa with BLM 860, said.
East Haddam Superintendent Dr. Teresa DeBrito says the school district does not tolerate these types of messages.
“We are deeply concerned about the disturbing footage involving students. The immediate response was to involve law enforcement and we did take action,” she said.
She says the school district would like to work with groups to teach students about racial tolerance. The East Haddam community is 96 percent white and less than one percent Black, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Saunders says the district’s move is simply not enough and wants to see consequences for students involved.
“These are hate crimes. We have laws on the books. These are hate crimes and they need to be treated as such,” she said.
The school district says they cannot discuss the disciplinary actions of individual students.
The NAACP says they’re speaking with the state’s attorney on pursuing hate crime charges. Connecticut State Police confirm they are investigating the racist messages from students.
