‘Racial’ message at Arbor View High School being investigated

A message “with racial implications” was discovered at Arbor View High School this week, according to a letter sent to families from CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara and Trustee Chris Garvey.

Students reported seeing racist graffiti on a bathroom wall at the northwest valley school on Wednesday. Jara and Garvey’s letter says CCSD’s Crisis Response Team had been made aware of the incident and would work with school administration to offer services to any students who may have seen the message.

The message comes nearly a year after two Arbor View students were arrested after racial threats were posted on social media in March. In the wake of those threats the school district moved to partner with a national equity organization to improve the cultural climate at the school.

Since April, training has been provided by the Anti-Defamation League and National Equity Project, with a session as recently as January and more training planned for the future, according to Jara and Garvey’s message.

The school has also implemented a number of changes in an attempt to stop hate-motivated incidents, like tolerance lessons during advisory periods and professional development focused on inclusion and implicit bias, the letter said.

“Once again, we want the community to know that these actions will not be tolerated and CCSD will continue to work to provide an inclusive learning community for all students,” the letter said. “We ask the community in joining us to condemn these actions.”

Jara also tweeted Thursday evening acknowledging “unacceptable messages” had been reported at Arbor View.

We are working closely with the Principal, @ChrisAGarvey & community leaders to investigate and continue the efforts to improve the culture on campus to make sure every student feels welcome and accepted. @CCSD_Trustees

— Dr. Jesus F. Jara (@SuptJaraCCSD) February 7, 2020

He said the school district is working with Principal Kevin McPartlin, the community and Garvey “to investigate and continue the efforts to improve the culture on campus to make sure every student feels welcome and accepted.”

Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.