Another racial incident at Churchill HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. What was the incident?

Swastikas drawn on a desk.

A dumb kid doodling on a desk caused all of this commotion? Give me a break. Is there some suspicion that there is a member of the Hitler Youth in the school? Do these ignorant administrators think that an email is going to solve the problem? Far, far better to do nothing besides assign a man to scrub the thing out of the desk and move on.

+1.

I am sure other kids actually wear BLM shirts, and that's as racist and hateful as drawing some random swastika

It's pathetic you don't know the difference.

Both are anti-Semitic and linked to hate and violence.

I know you prefer to ignore it, but facts are facts.

These do share some common grounds. However, one was a cause from a group that started a world war and was eventually defeated. The other was not.

One has a base of a race/ethic group that is still strong and dominating, the other does not.

Don't you agree these are also key differences?

[Anonymous]

This is bizarre. No one uses the N word or graffitis swastikas.

Who is doing this and why?

[Anonymous]

What’s an “n-word pass?”

[Anonymous]

The same thing happening is Quince Orchard HS. Are there any schools in Montgomery County that are more open to diversity?

Dear Quince Orchard Students, Staff, and Families

I am writing to inform you of two serious incidents that occurred within the last week. On Friday 2/1/19, a staff member found an arm band, made of tape, on the floor of a classroom which had a paper Swastika stapled to the outside and yesterday another teacher reported seeing two Swastika’s drawn on a desk. I want to share the steps we have taken to address these incidents. We immediately called the Montgomery County Police Department and began an investigation. We had the graffiti removed by our building services team. I want to assure you that we are investigating these situations and have been in communication with the MCPS Office of School Support and Improvement, the MCPS Department of School Safety and Security and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).

The code of conduct states that words or actions that are motivated by perceived or actual characteristics including race, gender identity, religion, familial status or disability are harassment and bullying. In the eyes of the law, it can be considered a hate crime or bias-based crime. This type of behavior will not be tolerated at Quince Orchard High School and those found responsible will be subject to disciplinary actions aligned with the Student Code of Conduct.

Our counseling and administrative teams are available for students if they have any questions or concerns. We must live our vision every day. Quince Orchard High School is a community where ALL students experience excellence and that comes with feeling safe and welcomed at all times.

I have included a link to resources for parents below.
A guide for parents and educators to use when facilitating conversations about tragic events with children.
https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/empowering-young-people-in-the-aftermath-of-hate-in

Thank you for your steadfast support,

Elizabeth L. Thomas (Beth)
Principal of Quince Orchard High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same thing happening is Quince Orchard HS. Are there any schools in Montgomery County that are more open to diversity?

Dear Quince Orchard Students, Staff, and Families

I am writing to inform you of two serious incidents that occurred within the last week. On Friday 2/1/19, a staff member found an arm band, made of tape, on the floor of a classroom which had a paper Swastika stapled to the outside and yesterday another teacher reported seeing two Swastika’s drawn on a desk. I want to share the steps we have taken to address these incidents. We immediately called the Montgomery County Police Department and began an investigation. We had the graffiti removed by our building services team. I want to assure you that we are investigating these situations and have been in communication with the MCPS Office of School Support and Improvement, the MCPS Department of School Safety and Security and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).

The code of conduct states that words or actions that are motivated by perceived or actual characteristics including race, gender identity, religion, familial status or disability are harassment and bullying. In the eyes of the law, it can be considered a hate crime or bias-based crime. This type of behavior will not be tolerated at Quince Orchard High School and those found responsible will be subject to disciplinary actions aligned with the Student Code of Conduct.

Our counseling and administrative teams are available for students if they have any questions or concerns. We must live our vision every day. Quince Orchard High School is a community where ALL students experience excellence and that comes with feeling safe and welcomed at all times.

I have included a link to resources for parents below.
A guide for parents and educators to use when facilitating conversations about tragic events with children.
https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/empowering-young-people-in-the-aftermath-of-hate-in

Thank you for your steadfast support,

Elizabeth L. Thomas (Beth)
Principal of Quince Orchard High School

It's not that this doesn't happen once and while elsewhere ever but that it keeps happening at Churchill that is disconcerting. Further, this is made worse by the people who attempt to dismiss it by pretending oh it happens everywhere you just don't hear about it in their effort to skirt responsibility for creating a toxic environment and failing to address the underlying problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s an “n-word pass?”

A slip of paper that was designed by students that gives the owner permission to use the word n*gger. These were at Hoover a few weeks before they showed up at Churchill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same thing happening is Quince Orchard HS. Are there any schools in Montgomery County that are more open to diversity?

Dear Quince Orchard Students, Staff, and Families

I am writing to inform you of two serious incidents that occurred within the last week. On Friday 2/1/19, a staff member found an arm band, made of tape, on the floor of a classroom which had a paper Swastika stapled to the outside and yesterday another teacher reported seeing two Swastika’s drawn on a desk. I want to share the steps we have taken to address these incidents. We immediately called the Montgomery County Police Department and began an investigation. We had the graffiti removed by our building services team. I want to assure you that we are investigating these situations and have been in communication with the MCPS Office of School Support and Improvement, the MCPS Department of School Safety and Security and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).

The code of conduct states that words or actions that are motivated by perceived or actual characteristics including race, gender identity, religion, familial status or disability are harassment and bullying. In the eyes of the law, it can be considered a hate crime or bias-based crime. This type of behavior will not be tolerated at Quince Orchard High School and those found responsible will be subject to disciplinary actions aligned with the Student Code of Conduct.

Our counseling and administrative teams are available for students if they have any questions or concerns. We must live our vision every day. Quince Orchard High School is a community where ALL students experience excellence and that comes with feeling safe and welcomed at all times.

I have included a link to resources for parents below.
A guide for parents and educators to use when facilitating conversations about tragic events with children.
https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/empowering-young-people-in-the-aftermath-of-hate-in

Thank you for your steadfast support,

Elizabeth L. Thomas (Beth)
Principal of Quince Orchard High School

It's not that this doesn't happen once and while elsewhere ever but that it keeps happening at Churchill that is disconcerting. Further, this is made worse by the people who attempt to dismiss it by pretending oh it happens everywhere you just don't hear about it in their effort to skirt responsibility for creating a toxic environment and failing to address the underlying problems.

It's a county-wide problem that students, parents, and the school system needs to stop ignoring and work together to stop. If students felt that it was morally reprehensible to act in this manner, they simply wouldn't do it. For some reason, the student population is accepting the behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how everything at Churchill is publicized and made to seem as if the students and staff are the most horrible, insensitive people in the county. There are a LOT of good people in the community and as my DS said yesterday, "everybody acts like this is just at Churchill and it's not, believe me". Let's face it, we all know where this horrible, divisive climate came from and until something changes up there, this type of behavior is unfortunately going to continue.Do we talk to our kids about this stuff, absolutely. Do they participate in it at school or anywhere else, No. I am not defending this behavior at all, but we have a much larger problem in this country and it's not contained to one high school in Montgomery County.

I don't things at Churchill are more publicized than anyplace else. It's that these things happen there with a much greater frequency. Pretending that it happens everywhere when there's no evidence to support this assertion is just a way of deflecting to avoid responsibility for these heinous actions.

+1 Students at Churchill were drawing swastikas and passing out N word passes. Similar behavior has been a problem at Hoover (I have a student there as well). I think the lack of diversity in these communities is a driving factor in the sense it is easier to scapegoat a race or religion if you don't have personal relationships or contact to develop respect and understanding of how hurtful these acts are.

Both principals at Churchill and Hoover used the same tactics when trying to deal with these problems which have been ineffective. They are robots probably following orders from the top which makes me think MCPS doesn't have a clear plan on how to improve school climate. I would not categorize ignorance in the same breath as hate so I think calling the police for a pencil drawing and a paper note is extreme and avoiding to deal with the underlying problem of bullying and disrespect within the schools.

I don't know if, overall, the two principals have used the same tactics, but I must say that I found the Churchill Principal's letter about it to be more passionate, and more indicative that she will be taking real action, than the Hoover Principal's letter. Maybe I perceive this because the Churchill principal is new and so inherited the problem and seems passionate about fixing it. Maybe it's because the description of the problem in the Hoover letter came after a scolding about getting kids to school on time and a statement about visitor passes on the bus. (This deserved its own letter, or at least top billing. And it is pretty delayed-- perhaps only sent out because Churchill addressed the issue in writing and she didn't want to be caught not mentioning it.)

I don't actually disagree with the sentiment of the Hoover principal that parents should monitor their children's social media feeds to see what they are exposed to, but the phrasing of the letter almost makes it seem like it's the parents' fault and responsibility, and she will just be going through the motions on intervention during a Charge Up lesson. It is surely true that the problem arises from home and should be addressed by every parent, but at this point, I think both schools (and probably the elementary schools that feed into them) need a sustained set of lessons and activities about inclusiveness and appropriate behavior, not a student-designed lesson to be given once during a short Charge Up.

[Anonymous]

So is this all to “get a rise”/be subliminal or is someone doing this plus mistreating blacks and Jews?

[Anonymous]

Bullying at Churchill goes beyond N word passes and swastikas. It is just politically correct to highlight these incidences but ignore the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how everything at Churchill is publicized and made to seem as if the students and staff are the most horrible, insensitive people in the county. There are a LOT of good people in the community and as my DS said yesterday, "everybody acts like this is just at Churchill and it's not, believe me". Let's face it, we all know where this horrible, divisive climate came from and until something changes up there, this type of behavior is unfortunately going to continue.Do we talk to our kids about this stuff, absolutely. Do they participate in it at school or anywhere else, No. I am not defending this behavior at all, but we have a much larger problem in this country and it's not contained to one high school in Montgomery County.

I don't things at Churchill are more publicized than anyplace else. It's that these things happen there with a much greater frequency. Pretending that it happens everywhere when there's no evidence to support this assertion is just a way of deflecting to avoid responsibility for these heinous actions.

+1 Students at Churchill were drawing swastikas and passing out N word passes. Similar behavior has been a problem at Hoover (I have a student there as well). I think the lack of diversity in these communities is a driving factor in the sense it is easier to scapegoat a race or religion if you don't have personal relationships or contact to develop respect and understanding of how hurtful these acts are.

Both principals at Churchill and Hoover used the same tactics when trying to deal with these problems which have been ineffective. They are robots probably following orders from the top which makes me think MCPS doesn't have a clear plan on how to improve school climate. I would not categorize ignorance in the same breath as hate so I think calling the police for a pencil drawing and a paper note is extreme and avoiding to deal with the underlying problem of bullying and disrespect within the schools.

I don't know if, overall, the two principals have used the same tactics, but I must say that I found the Churchill Principal's letter about it to be more passionate, and more indicative that she will be taking real action, than the Hoover Principal's letter. Maybe I perceive this because the Churchill principal is new and so inherited the problem and seems passionate about fixing it. Maybe it's because the description of the problem in the Hoover letter came after a scolding about getting kids to school on time and a statement about visitor passes on the bus. (This deserved its own letter, or at least top billing. And it is pretty delayed-- perhaps only sent out because Churchill addressed the issue in writing and she didn't want to be caught not mentioning it.)

I don't actually disagree with the sentiment of the Hoover principal that parents should monitor their children's social media feeds to see what they are exposed to, but the phrasing of the letter almost makes it seem like it's the parents' fault and responsibility, and she will just be going through the motions on intervention during a Charge Up lesson. It is surely true that the problem arises from home and should be addressed by every parent, but at this point, I think both schools (and probably the elementary schools that feed into them) need a sustained set of lessons and activities about inclusiveness and appropriate behavior, not a student-designed lesson to be given once during a short Charge Up.

The problem with Mrs. Heckert and even her boss, Dr. Moran, is that they talk a good talk but the follow-through with fixing problems has been thus far lacking. School climate and morale is in the toilet. Parents, students, and teachers have met with them regarding their concerns but little has been done to make things better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how everything at Churchill is publicized and made to seem as if the students and staff are the most horrible, insensitive people in the county. There are a LOT of good people in the community and as my DS said yesterday, "everybody acts like this is just at Churchill and it's not, believe me". Let's face it, we all know where this horrible, divisive climate came from and until something changes up there, this type of behavior is unfortunately going to continue.Do we talk to our kids about this stuff, absolutely. Do they participate in it at school or anywhere else, No. I am not defending this behavior at all, but we have a much larger problem in this country and it's not contained to one high school in Montgomery County.

I don't things at Churchill are more publicized than anyplace else. It's that these things happen there with a much greater frequency. Pretending that it happens everywhere when there's no evidence to support this assertion is just a way of deflecting to avoid responsibility for these heinous actions.

Do these things happen with a much greater frequency at Churchill? Do we have some numbers? i.e. how many times these things happen at Churchill vs other schools in the last (3?) years? Let's see if we really have evidence to support this claim.

This is exactly the point. Unless someone has data to actually back up the claim that these incidents happen more often at Churchill than their claim is merit less. This board loves to stoke things up at Churchill by making sure that everything that happens within the community is made public. I see someone posted a letter from the Quince Orchard principal of an incident that happened earlier in the month. They've had their own share of problems. These issues are not limited to Churchill and it's time people throughout the county start addressing it not just saying how horrible Churchill is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how everything at Churchill is publicized and made to seem as if the students and staff are the most horrible, insensitive people in the county. There are a LOT of good people in the community and as my DS said yesterday, "everybody acts like this is just at Churchill and it's not, believe me". Let's face it, we all know where this horrible, divisive climate came from and until something changes up there, this type of behavior is unfortunately going to continue.Do we talk to our kids about this stuff, absolutely. Do they participate in it at school or anywhere else, No. I am not defending this behavior at all, but we have a much larger problem in this country and it's not contained to one high school in Montgomery County.

I don't things at Churchill are more publicized than anyplace else. It's that these things happen there with a much greater frequency. Pretending that it happens everywhere when there's no evidence to support this assertion is just a way of deflecting to avoid responsibility for these heinous actions.

Do these things happen with a much greater frequency at Churchill? Do we have some numbers? i.e. how many times these things happen at Churchill vs other schools in the last (3?) years? Let's see if we really have evidence to support this claim.

This is exactly the point. Unless someone has data to actually back up the claim that these incidents happen more often at Churchill than their claim is merit less. This board loves to stoke things up at Churchill by making sure that everything that happens within the community is made public. I see someone posted a letter from the Quince Orchard principal of an incident that happened earlier in the month. They've had their own share of problems. These issues are not limited to Churchill and it's time people throughout the county start addressing it not just saying how horrible Churchill is.

Who cares if it is worse or less bad at Churchill than other places? My kids go to Churchill and yours probably do, too (since you're on this thread). So we need to find a way to address the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how everything at Churchill is publicized and made to seem as if the students and staff are the most horrible, insensitive people in the county. There are a LOT of good people in the community and as my DS said yesterday, "everybody acts like this is just at Churchill and it's not, believe me". Let's face it, we all know where this horrible, divisive climate came from and until something changes up there, this type of behavior is unfortunately going to continue.Do we talk to our kids about this stuff, absolutely. Do they participate in it at school or anywhere else, No. I am not defending this behavior at all, but we have a much larger problem in this country and it's not contained to one high school in Montgomery County.

I don't things at Churchill are more publicized than anyplace else. It's that these things happen there with a much greater frequency. Pretending that it happens everywhere when there's no evidence to support this assertion is just a way of deflecting to avoid responsibility for these heinous actions.

Do these things happen with a much greater frequency at Churchill? Do we have some numbers? i.e. how many times these things happen at Churchill vs other schools in the last (3?) years? Let's see if we really have evidence to support this claim.

This is exactly the point. Unless someone has data to actually back up the claim that these incidents happen more often at Churchill than their claim is merit less. This board loves to stoke things up at Churchill by making sure that everything that happens within the community is made public. I see someone posted a letter from the Quince Orchard principal of an incident that happened earlier in the month. They've had their own share of problems. These issues are not limited to Churchill and it's time people throughout the county start addressing it not just saying how horrible Churchill is.

Who cares if it is worse or less bad at Churchill than other places? My kids go to Churchill and yours probably do, too (since you're on this thread). So we need to find a way to address the issue.

Most of these "incidents" were addressed. The problem is whether or not people are satisfied with the way they were addressed. Whether Churchill stands out as a school with much worse (or better) records, would be something people use to judge how successfully the solutions were. Of course, if someone says: " it doesn't matter how the results are, as long as we are doing the right thing", then it doesn't matter...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's not that this doesn't happen once and while elsewhere ever but that it keeps happening at Churchill that is disconcerting. Further, this is made worse by the people who attempt to dismiss it by pretending oh it happens everywhere you just don't hear about it in their effort to skirt responsibility for creating a toxic environment and failing to address the underlying problems.

+1