Bigoted Posts By Imposter Social Media Accounts Prompt BHUSD Warning

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — When Beverly Hills schools stayed open despite Tropical Storm Hilary, disgruntled students took to social media to share their displeasure, masquerading as school officials on Instagram and on official district updates about the storm. The posts —profane, racist and sexist — prompted Beverly Hills High School Principal Drew Stewart and Beverly Hills Unified School District to respond, urging parents to speak to their children their conduct online.

The Comments on the posts have since been disabled.

Before the comments were disabled, more than 700 people posted. More than one account masqueraded as Stewart and used the comment section to criticize the decision not to close schools. The imposter accounts mocked people with disabilities and insulted the LGBTQ+ community.

"I was ashamed and appalled at how some of our school community comported themselves online over this past weekend in response to posts about, of all things, weather updates," Stewart said in a message to the school community. "We saw racist, misogynistic, anti-LGBTQIA, ableist, and otherwise derogatory, hostile, and defamatory language. We as a school will not stand for it."

District officials told Patch that they can't assume the fake accounts were created by their students as malicious social media challenges are known to spread far and wide.

Stewart and other district officials urged parents to speak to their students to remind them of how to conduct themselves online as students and members of the Beverly Hills community.

Beverly Hills Unified School District's annual rights and responsibilities document outlines the rules that students should abide by when using social media. The document explicitly states that any derogatory comments about other students or employees are prohibited and may be subject to discipline.

"Be aware of what you post online — social media tools are very public. What you contribute leaves a digital footprint for all to see," the document states. "Do not post anything you would not want friends, enemies, parents, teachers, or a future employer to see."

District officials said there is no investigation into the incident as it did not significantly impact school instruction or occur on campus.

At the most recent Beverly Hills Unified School District School Board Meeting, Board Member Mandy Stern acknowledged that the comments likely came from kids who were "being a bit over the top."

"I just want parents and viewers to remember that they need to continue to not only monitor what their kids might post but also to be a role model for how you deal with online commentary," Stern said. "It can be traced to you very easily whether or not you try to create a site representing another person who is not yourself or you are saying things that are very negative and using foul or racist language."