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By Federico Barrera and Kiran Pathy Staff Reporters
Students and staff at Hand brought in speakers to address an issue of hateful vandalism that took place earlier this year.
On March 13, Superintendent Cooke issued a statement that graffiti was found on the wall of a DHHS bathroom.
"The reporting from the few students who saw the graffiti was swift and allowed us the opportunity to immediately close the area while a thorough investigation that spanned several days was conducted," Cooke said in his statement.
The investigation identified the student responsible for the action, and administration's focus then shifted to working with the student population to stage a response. Cooke’s statement said administrators met with students in the Diversity Club and experts to discuss follow up programs and efforts.
"We participated in multiple conversations addressing the hate crime in the bathroom," Andrew Onubogu, spokesperson for the Diversity Club, a group at Hand dedicated to raising awareness about social justice, said.
On March 15, Madison Public Schools representatives met with an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) representative, which is an international human rights organization.
Salutari said the meeting included Assistant Superintendent Gail Dahling-Hench, Assistant Principal Bodner, students from the Diversity Club, and himself.
"The ADL had a plan that they were hoping they could put forward at our school," Salutari said.
Salutari said student leaders didn't think we were ready for the proposal.
"We decided that it was not the move for students to openly share their personal stories at the assembly," Onubogu said.
On March 14, Salutari said he was meeting with Superintendent Cooke and another former Superintendent from another district to consider solutions based on the input from the Diversity Club. The district administration also says they want student input on addressing the situation.
"We want students to have a voice in our next steps," Superintendent Cooke said. "We envision grade level assemblies as part of our response but again want students to develop that programming. I would say this is work that would have happened, but we do recognize a need to have this occur sooner [as a result of the vandalism]."
The next month, Hand hosted a presentation by Partners for Educational Leadership, a Hartford-based organization dedicated to enhancing the capacity of schools to improve outcomes for all students. Program Coordinators Dr. Rydell Harrison and Tisha Markette delivered a talk titled "Undoing Racism and Fostering a Sense of Belonging."
The nearly hour-long presentations brought grade levels into the Hand gym. They invited students to reflect on and share ideas about inclusion, the effect of microaggressions on people’s sense of belonging, and the bystander effect.
The program was well-received by the student body. Superintendent Cooke has expressed intentions to follow up next year on this initiative.
