Student Response to Vandalism is Appropriate, Tutwiler Says

Wayland High School Principal Pat Tutwiler said the students at his school are responding appropriately and actively to the offensive graffiti spray painted on the WHS sign over the weekend.

On Sunday morning, in black spray paint on the granite sign at the entrance to the school's campus.

"I'm as offended by the use of that word and its intended meaning as I am when I hear the N-word," Tutwiler said. "That language is not acceptable."

On Sunday afternoon, Tutwiler sent an email to the high school listserv informing people of the crime and expressing his desire take the opportunity to reiterate the values of Wayland High.

Tutwiler said that some WHS students are on the group email list and a few of them replied to his Sunday note, stating their own disappointment.

"One student responded with 'This disgusts me,'" Tutwiler said, "and he took it to Facebook."

Tutwiler said that any time something like this derogatory vandalism occurs, he has to determine how best for the school to respond. In this case, he said the students' own responses let him know that he didn't need to "bring the school to a screeching halt."

"If I heard someone say it, I would address it then and there," Tutwiler said, adding that, in this case, "instead of adults standing at the front of the room, students [addressed] it."

Tutwiler doesn't intend to let this one act ruin the end of the school year and said when things like this happen, "you deal with it, you learn from it and you move on."

To read reactions from students, faculty and staff, check out the Wayland Student Press Network coverage of the vandalism.