Racist Acts In Wakefield Schools Raise Concern

WAKEFIELD, MA — A series of racist incidents at Wakefield Public Schools has marred the first month of classes.

Superintendent Doug Lyons on Thursday night briefed the School Committee about what he said were "really concerning" events.

School officials found a racial slur scratched into the boys' and girls' bathroom stalls at the high school. Lyons said he was unsure if they were connected.

Lyons said the incident was reported to police, and the school is investigating. One of the bathrooms has a camera outside it and the other will be getting one installed.

Police said they don't have any more information than what was reported to them.

"Racism in any form, acts of hate, hate speech, it will not be tolerated," Lyons said. "There's no space for it. It's against the law. It targets and demeans individuals in a way that is unsafe."

In another incident, a student wore a "Warrior" headdress to a weekend sports game. The district just this year voted to drop voted to drop the Warrior logo.

Lyons also said students at the Galvin were using racial slurs with one another.

"The administration is working with all those students and their families and has set their boundaries, they've assigned consequences and now they are working on restorative practices with those students to bring them back into the community while also coaching them in what is acceptable behavior and certainly what is not," Lyons said.

The work for school officials isn't just to punish offenders, but teach them while creating a culture of inclusivity and conversation. For Wakefield High Principal Amy McLeod, that means actively promoting an anti-racist mindset.

"Teachers are really open and willing to work on goals that are around either these inclusive practices or creating spaces and room in their classrooms so that more of these difficult conversations and these honest and frank conversations around race and equity and inclusion can happen," she said.

Lyons said it's been hard to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion learning over the last 18 months due to how the pandemic has affected learning. But he made clear there is a roadmap for moving forward.

"We've got a responsibility not just to assign consequences and be clear about what we will not tolerate," he said. "We also have a responsibility to teach students to commit ourselves to restorative practices so they are not forever judged by their mistakes, however egregious."

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Wakefield Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.