Use Of Racial Slur During MA Middle SchoolTrack Meet Under Investigation

WAYLAND, MA — Wayland school officials are investigating an incident where a student from Sudbury used a racial slur against a Wayland athlete during a recent track meet, according to a report.

The incident occurred during a Friday track meet between Wayland Middle School and Ephraim Curtis Middle School in Sudbury. Wayland student Jayden Taylor said a Sudbury student called him the N-word after he ran the 200-meter event. Wayland Middle School Principal Betsy Gavron said in a letter to parents that the incident is under investigation, according to WCVB.

The incident is the latest in a string of racist incidents involving Wayland students. Early in 2022, a group of boys from Westford Academy taunted a Wayland High School girls' basketball player with racial slurs.

Wayland is also grappling with a discrimination complaint filed by Omar Easy, the district's first Black superintendent who was placed on leave by the school committee in February. Late in 2022, a yet-unidentified vandal spray-painted "Omar = N----r" outside the high school. Easy has said he was discriminated against outside the spray-painting incident, and alerted the school committee he intended to file a state complaint before he was placed on leave.