Vanden High School In Fairfield Closed Following Racist Threat; Other Incidents Investigated
FAIRFIELD (CBS SF) – Vanden High School in Fairfield has canceled all classes and school activities for Wednesday as school district officials and police investigated a racist threat on campus following previous incidents.
The announcement was made on the district's Facebook page just before 7 p.m. Tuesday.
District officials said the closure was done "out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of our students and staff." All other schools in the district will remain open for class Wednesday.
"Yesterday our staff was made aware of a threat of violence toward students at Vanden High School," Travis School District Superintendent Pam Conklin said Wednesday. "In cooperation of Fairfield police department we began investigation to determine the credibility and origin of the threat...The ongoing investigation shows no threat to the surrounding schools."
The NAACP San Francisco said the threat involved a student in a classroom saying "need to get rid of all them n------." Wednesday's incident followed other incidents of racism and anti-Semitism at the school earlier this month, the NAACP said.
The NAACP called for "swift, meaningful action by Vanden High School and the Travis Unified School District in the wake of two disturbing incidents of racism and anti-Semitism at Vanden High."
The NAACP said in a release, a "swastika along with disparaging, racist comments about black honor student Edward Russell III, were found scrawled on the baseball field walls. Parents reported the incident to school administrators, who were shockingly slow in responding, failing to remove the ugly and hateful comments immediately."
Vanden HS is in the Travis Unified School District. It is closed today due to a threat. A Vanden HS student's father says the Superintendent said it has nothing to do with the incident involving his son.
— CBS Sacramento CBS13 (@CBSSacramento) March 27, 2019
Conklin said the investigation into the incidents was ongoing.
At a Wednesday press conference, the father of the student said the derogatory graffiti, discovered on Saturday, March 2nd, also targeted lesbians and the disabled, and included a "USA for Trump" scrawling.
Parent Edward Russell Jr. said he asked for those responsible to be expelled during a meeting two days after the discovery of the graffiti with Vanden High Principal Bill Sarty and Travis Unified School District Student Services Director Vincent Ruiz.
"They said they could not do that," said Russell Jr. "They were suspended for five days for vandalism. Not a hate crime. For vandalism."
Russell Jr. said he, NAACP San Francisco President Rev. Amos Brown and Tri-City NAACP President Johnicon George met Tuesday, with Sarty, Ruiz and Conklin to reiterate their demands that the offending students be expelled.
"In that meeting, me and my wife asked Superintendent Conklin, does she consider this a hate crime? And she repeatedly said, 'No.' We asked her if it was okay to spray paint swastikas on the premise[s], would that be grounds for expulsion? And she said, 'No.' Repeatedly," said Russell Jr. "All we want is for our son to be able to go to school without having to look over his shoulder, because those criminals are still there at that school, walking around and have intimate access to my son and whatever other student they may have nefarious plans for."
"Adults who shouldve been in charge, taking care of business, for two-and-a-half to three weeks did absolutely nothing." said Brown. "The administration unfortunately has given cover and protection for the guilty students, and mind you these students are 18 years old."
Russell Jr. said he learned about Tuesday's racist threat from a notification sent out to parents about the incident, and that Conklin called him to say the incident "had nothing to do with my son."
Conklin admitted that the school "had been the victim of a number of offensive images earlier this month."
"We are working extremely hard -- the work of our administrative staff and the Fairfield police did result in us identifying the individuals who were responsible for those images," Conklin said. "Because those individuals are students, we are able to administer the appropriate administrative action pursuant to California Education Code."
Conklin did not identify what that action was.
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