No Racial Motivation Found In Wayland High School Incident, Officials Say

WAYLAND, MA — Wayland Public Schools and Wayland police issued a joint statement Wednesday following a deeper investigation into an incident at Wayland High School that has raised concerns about possible racial motivation.

In late October, a Wayland High School student-athlete reported a green "children at play" sign that was found hanging in the locker room, wearing a Black student's football jersey.

School and police officials said an investigation found that some students hung up the traffic figure on a ceiling pipe near Halloween decorations and other football jerseys and that there was no criminal, hateful, or racial motivation behind the incident.

Wayland police investigators determined that criminal charges were not warranted. Wayland police also consulted with officials from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office who specialize in racial and bias-motivated incidents.

The school district and police said that although the investigation is closed, the impact remains.

"We are mindful of the meanings, intentional or not, that certain symbols or actions have on Wayland and members of our community. The pain that resulted was palpable, and we cannot ignore the harm that this incident has done to the community. Additionally, the lack of awareness of how this display could be perceived as racially-motivated and cause such hurt highlights the acute need for an increase in education, sensitivity, and understanding of hate-based symbols," the statement reads.

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Wayland Public Schools said it will now engage in learning and enrichment activities meant to improve understanding of race and culture, as well as working with outside experts on training, team building, and learning experiences for the school community.

"No member of our community should feel unwelcome or unsafe in Wayland. Together, we will continue our collective effort to foster a greater sense of community and humanity," the school and police department said.

You can read the complete statement here.

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