Editor’s note: This story references graphic language in the form of a racial slur.
A Montgomery County high school principal is on administrative leave and the public school system is apologizing for its response to the recent discovery of racist graffiti at Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland.
On Monday, Dec. 2, someone wrote the N-word on the desk of a Black student at Wootton. However, it wasn’t until Friday, Dec. 6 that Montgomery County Public Schools sent a note to the school community, addressing what it called an “anti-Black, racist hate and bias incident.”
“As district wide school leaders, the response was not up to our expectations, and we need to do better,” Superintendent Thomas Taylor, and Chief of Schools Peter Moran stated in note sent to the community on Sunday, Dec. 8.
“We recognize that the harm caused to the community by the actual incident and by the lack of prompt reporting is not isolated to this incident, and we are committed to strengthening future response and to fostering a community where understanding, empathy, and respect replace hate and bias.”
On Monday, a week after the incident occurred, Maryland’s largest public school system confirmed that Wootton principal Douglas Nelson was on administrative leave, without providing specifics of what led to the decision.
MoCo360 reported two Black Student Union leaders told the publication “even though the student reported the incident in writing to the classroom teacher, the teacher didn’t report the incident.”
According to Taylor and Moran, staff at Wootton received “professional development to build their capacity to respond to these incidents in a supportive and effective manner,” including ” training sessions on the policies, procedures, and expectations for reporting incidents of hate and bias,” on Monday.
This was not the first racist incident at Wootton. In May, a student printed 1,000 copies of the same racial slur on a classroom printer.
“On Friday, students, staff, and the broader community passionately pleaded for concrete steps to end hate at Wootton High School and throughout the District,” wrote Taylor and Moran. “To be clear, this moment demands reflection, action and commitment to change, and we are determined to see this process through with support from central services and a shared commitment to lasting transformation.”
The pair of Black Student Union leaders quoted by MoCo360 said the school system has responded less vigorously to hate incidents against Black people.
“When swastikas are drawn on the art tables, the police are called, the superintendent gives a message, news stations give multiple reports, etc. For every instance, the principal has sent a community message on the day of the incident. Appropriate action cannot only be taken for white and white-adjacent groups,” wrote the students to the administration.
Those students are being commended for speaking out by the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Those groups released a joint statement.
“It should outrage all Montgomery County residents that Black students and teachers at Wootton have long reported persistent and unchecked anti-Black racism in their school community to no avail and that it took several days for administrators to report and respond to this latest incident. It is a reminder that MCPS has considerable work to do to better protect students,” the groups wrote in a statement.
While not specifically addressing the student union’s allegation that the school system’s response was undersized because the target was a Black person, Taylor and Moran said they recognized “the harm caused by shortcomings in our response to this incident and are committed to rebuilding trust through meaningful dialogue.”
The pair, who said “we deeply appreciate the voices of our Black students and the community,” added that “planning is underway for a community dialogue session to engage caregivers,
students, and other members of the Wootton community,” and a “date, time, and location will be announced within the next couple of days.”
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