SCHOOL DISTRICT LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION ON INSTAGRAM-RELATED PREJUDICIAL CLAIMS

As the school district deals with two instances of alleged Instagram-related prejudicial actions, Superintendent John Ramos has issued two statements on the situation.

The first, reacting to the recent claims of anti-semitism at South Orange Middle School, stated:

When families shared concerns about instances of anti-Semitic 

images and comments recently posted by students, school 

administrators immediately initiated an investigation into 

the specific incidents, and addressed the climate and culture 

at SOMS. 

While student confidentiality bars us from discussing both 

the investigation and any resulting disciplinary action, 

the South Orange and Maplewood school community 

can rest assured that we take all issues of intolerance 

and bias extremely seriously, and will support all of the 

students involved, as well as the student body at large. 

SOMSD values and honors our commonalities and our differences. 

We are committed to ensuring that our schools are a safe and 

tolerant environment for all of our students and staff.  We are 

planning several initiatives to promote tolerance and acceptance,

and to help students develop greater sensitivity to cultural 

differences. We are also connecting with local community 

leaders to involve them in the process. We will keep the 

community informed of our plans.

The second appears to seek calm about both the SOMS situation and an earlier report of a racist posting on Instagram by two Columbia High School students.

See that below:

This week we have responded to several instances of students 

posting culturally insensitive pictures and comments on 

social media. School administrators are addressing the 

individual incidents, using both our code of conduct 

and restorative practices strategies to help students 

recognize and address the effect of their behavior on the 

school community.

We know that these incidents do not reflect the values 

of the student body as a whole. They do, however, highlight 

the need for us to really focus on one of the
strategies central to our emerging strategic plan:

We will infuse cultural competency in every aspect of our 

learning community.

The district is committed to helping students understand 

the impact their words and actions can have on other 

individuals and on our communities, so that we can ensure 

that all students feel comfortable and safe in our schools. 

We also previously reported that CHS Principal Elizabeth Aaron had made comments to students on Wednesday and Thursday related to social media concerns.

See those HERE.

We will continue to follow the issue and related updates.