Somers Ed Officials Probing Apparent Racially Insensitive Posts

SOMERS, CT — Education officials in Somers are investigating what some residents are calling a racially insensitive social media post that originated from students. An increased police presence was at the Somers education complex Tuesday after a threat was made against one of the students supposedly involved, the top system official said. A police presence was also planned for Wednesday.

A resident sent the link to Patch late Monday morning, claiming a student was behind it. The apparently shared post depicted a high school-aged female in "blackface" accompanied by a racial slur. Access to that share was restricted late Monday night.

"Disciplinary action should be taken. This situation should not go dismissed," the resident said.

When asked if the post were shared with school system officials, the resident said it had been.

A letter from Superintendent of Schools Brian Czapla told parents the posting appeared over the weekend.

A statement from Czapla read:

"We do not condone any type of racism, bigotry or hateful actions ... This is not the type of bevavior or beliefs we expect from out students. We understand the seriousness of of this incident and are conducting a thorough investigation."

He said the police presence Tuesday morning was the ensure the safety of staff members, faculty and students.

In an update sent to parents Tuesday afternoon, Czapla said he has been looking into several "disturbing and unacceptable" social media posts.

"When we learned about these posts, the administration conducted a comprehensive investigation and, upon its conclusion, took immediate and appropriate action," he said.

He said the threat against a student in apparent retaliation was made online. Administrators have been in "constant" contact with police about the matter, he added.

"Our goal is to continue to to explore how we can strengthen our current educational programming so we can assist students in accepting and valuing diversity on our world. We will continue to move forward and work on achieving that goal," he said.