Danvers Student Meetings Set After Swastika Found In Bathroom

DANVERS, MA —Another swastika and more antisemitic graffiti found in a third floor bathroom at Danvers High School on Wednesday added to "another challenging week" in Danvers Public Schools, Superintendent Lisa Dana said in a letter to the school community.

The discovery of the swastika — the third found in a Danvers Public School bathroom in recent weeks — comes one day after the district suspended the high school wrestling program after a fight among wrestlers over what the district said was a racial comment made on a video led to the discovery of a team SnapChat group that involved "hateful and hazing and biased language."

"We condemn these hate incidents and want to be clear that this type of hateful and discriminatory behavior has no place in the Danvers Public Schools and in our community," Dana wrote in the letter. "DHS will be meeting with students throughout the next few days to engage in work around bias and hateful language, dangers of social media and the importance of reporting concerning information."

Dana told the school community Wednesday "it has been another challenging week in Danvers" as police and officials investigate the latest incidents.

Wednesday's graffiti is the latest in what has become a long line of disturbing incidents in the schools — and within the town — involving racial profiling, racist, homophobic and antisemitic graffiti and swastikas, and public displays of an apparent noose and the Confederate flag.

It has all come while district officials, the police and an independent probe investigated and recently addressed accusations of locker room hazing involving racist language and the use of a sex toy within the high school boys hockey program during the 2019-2020 school year.

Dana and other administrators spoke at Monday night's School Committee meeting about the steps being taken to address the behavior, and some of the progress they believed was being made, before Tuesday's fight, SnapChat group discovery and Wednesday's swastika found in the high school bathroom.

Dana said she will further present the plan described at the School Committee meeting to the Human Rights and Inclusion Committee when it meets Thursday night.

(READ: Passions Soar As Danvers School Committee Talks Hockey Charges)

"We are asking for your support," she said on Wednesday. "As parents, caregivers and community members, please have the difficult conversations about these issues.

"As Danvers High Principal Adam Federico mentioned in his message to DHS families, it is important for families to review the use of social media and cell phones and to reinforce that racist, biased or inappropriate language is unacceptable."

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