Friday, January 22, 2021
Lowell High School PTSA lowellptsa101@gmail.com
LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL PTSA STATEMENT ON RECENT HATE ACTIVITY AT LOWELL
The Lowell High School PTSA (LPTSA) strongly condemns all hate speech and any activity that hurts our students and community. We would like to address the events that took place on January 20th at 2pm, which targeted our community, specifically African-American and Jewish community members. It pains us that this is not the first time hate and racism has shown up at Lowell. This history and Wednesday’s incident do not and should not represent who we aspire to be as a community and it tells us that we must continually work towards inclusivity.
While students participated in Anti-Racism lessons during their registry blocks, appalling, racist, and pornographic images were posted onto Padlet, the shared virtual bulletin board that was believed to only be accessible through Lowell’s Coordinated Care Team. The Lowell Administration archived the Padlet for cybersecurity analysis and contacted the SFUSD IT department to investigate how this incident occurred and to determine who is responsible for posting these offensive messages.
Here is the Administration communication sent to Lowell Parents & Students at 5:40p, Wednesday, January 20, 2021
We would like to extend our support to all who may be hurting right now, and want to offer resources to Lowell’s Counseling Department and Wellness Center. Counselors and our wellness staff are available for drop-in hours from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm if you would like to process your thoughts around Wednesday’s events. Especially for students, Lowell Student Association is holding a Student Healing and Support Circle on Friday, January 22 at 3pm that will offer a place for students to talk with their peers about how they are feeling after Wednesday’s events and also have access to one-on-one support with a counselor or therapist.
The LPTSA Diversity & Inclusion Committee works with the Lowell Administration, the Coordinated Care Team (CCT), Peer Resources, and student groups to coordinate our staff professional development, student education programs, and PTSA community events as a concerted effort to improve school climate. We also recognize that our students need more and we are looking forward to support from the Board of Education and SFUSD to help us meet the needs of our community.
We support the Administration in their pursuit to hold whoever is responsible to the full measure possible and in accordance with District policies. We agree that the posting of hate speech with intent to harm is a criminal act and support the consequences of those actions. If you are aware of any details that may help in the investigation, please contact Assistant Principal Joe Dominguez (dominguezj1@sfusd.edu).
Now is the time to come together: this is our opportunity to show up and create a community where we celebrate each other and all feel safe.
In community,
The Lowell High School PTSA Board
