Racial slur found written on Black student's desk Wootton High School
ROCKVILLE, MD - AUGUST 31: It's the first day of school in Montgomery County and at Wootton high school, which has had its' troubles of late, on August, 31, 2015 in Rockville, MD. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Montgomery County Public School leaders say they are working to address a racist incident that happened at Wootton High School early last week — the second in less than eight months.
According to a letter sent home to Wootton High families, the N-word was found written on the desk of a Black student at the school.
"Unfortunately, it is further evidence of the need for significant cultural and behavioral change to make Wootton a safe and equitable place for all students and staff to learn and thrive," MCPS Chief of Schools Dr. Peter Moran wrote.
Moran went on to apologize for a delay in reporting the incident. It was not immediately clear what caused the delay but Moran said the lack of response "only caused further harm to the Black students, staff, and community and left feelings of being unwelcome and unsafe."
A follow-up letter was sent to Wootton families over the weekend specifying that this week, there will be mental health and support resources and training on response protocols.
The district is also planning a community dialogue session. They say the date, time and location of the session will be released in the coming days.
Moran said that district’s response to the incident was "not up to our expectations," and that they "need to do better."
"We recognize that the harm caused to the community by the actual incident and by the lack of prompt reporting is not isolated to this incident, and we are committed to strengthening future response and to fostering a community where understanding, empathy, and respect replace hate and bias," the joint letter from MCPS leaders read.
MCPS says the investigation is wrapping up this Monday and that the student involved in the incident will "face consequences in accordance with our MCPS Student Code of Conduct."
This is the second racist incident the school has experienced in the past eight months. Back in May, staff members discovered that someone had printed the N-word 1,000 times on 1,000 pieces of paper on a printer in the building.
The student was disciplined and district leaders said the school enhanced its communication structures with the Stronger Student App to help facilitate the reporting of bias incidents.
A pep rally to celebrate the beginning of the winter sports season that had been scheduled for Monday was postponed so staff could inform students about what happened and what resources will be available to them this week.