A pencil drawing of a swastika was found in a boys’ bathroom of a Montgomery County, Maryland, middle school Wednesday.
Silver Creek Middle School Principal Traci Townsend said in a letter to parents that once the school was informed about the drawing, staff secured the restroom and called Montgomery County police and the school system’s Office of School Support and Improvement.
After the incident was documented, building staff removed the swastika.
“Our children need to understand that certain images, words, and actions, regardless of intention, are hurtful, inappropriate, and disrespectful. We are very saddened by this incident,” Townsend’s letter said.
The vandal or vandals have not been identified, but they will face consequences in accordance with the school system’s code of conduct. “This behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Silver Creek Middle School,” Townsend said.
Just two days before, school Superintendent Jack Smith posted a video on diversity and said that “There is absolutely no room for hate in Montgomery County Public Schools.”
“Students and staff who engage in racist acts and target others because of their skin color, gender, religion, sexual identity or culture will face serious consequences,” Smith said.
Smith’s message comes after a string of racist incidents in the school system.
Last month, two students at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda posted a picture of themselves to social media wearing blackface, school officials said. A racist slur was also used in the photo description.
In March, a swastika and a curse word were found scrawled inside a restroom at Bannockburn Elementary School in Bethesda.
And in February, a small group of students were apparently passing out “racist, hateful” materials at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac.
