One week after racist graffiti was discovered in an Andrean High School boys bathroom, parents met with administrators seeking reassurance it would be effectively addressed.
Nearly 40 parents called for administrators to do a better job of informing parents and asked why the incident was first reported in the media before a letter was sent to parents.
During the meeting in the high school cafeteria in Merrillville, Acting Administrator Tony Bonta apologized to parents and denounced the incident, saying it did not reflect the vast majority of students who attend the school.
The school’s investigation is ongoing, he said. Administrators have not yet identified who drew it, he said.
On Dec. 7, Bonta said he was notified in emails from two students and a parent of graffiti depicting several racial epithets and two swastikas. Once it was found in a last stall of the upstairs boys bathroom, it was quickly removed, he said.
Since then, administrators are considering installing security cameras near the bathroom’s entrances and they have reached out to the Anti-Defamation League for guidance.
A representative from the Anti-Defamation League’s Chicago office said the organization had been contacted by Andrean administrators before the graffiti was discovered last week.
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Its education director was in contact with Bonta on Thursday to see what recommendations and resources it can provide, said Associate Regional Director Jessica Gall.
Bonta told parents he was not sure how long the racist graffiti could have been there before it was discovered. One student said it was not there about two weeks before it was discovered, he said.
Bonta has held multiple meetings with students and was encouraged by feedback he has received from them, he said.
One student, so far, has come forward to take responsibility for unrelated graffiti that was “sexual” in nature, he said. A punishment for that student may be determined by the end of the semester.
This year, the makeup of Andrean’s nearly 500 high school students are 56.3 percent white, 22.8 percent African-American, 13.2 percent Hispanic, 4.9 percent multiracial and 2.8 percent Asian, according to the state Department of Education.
Parents said they were looking for a constructive school-wide dialogue, but they were disappointed to see the number of parents who attended were overwhelmingly African-American.
“The turnout said a lot by not being enough of the majority (white parents),” Nina Ellerbe, 35, of Merrillville, who is black, said via phone on Thursday. “To me, especially, that meant it was our problem and not the Andrean family’s problem.”
“Having more diversity in the meeting would have starting bridging the gap,” she said. “The people who weren’t affected chose not to be there.”
In February, prior to Bonta’s tenure, a group of Andrean students was photographed holding a large Fathead photo of Donald Trump and a sign saying “ESPNDEPORTES,” while chanting “Build a wall!” Bishop Noll Institute fans countered with “You’re a racist!” and “You’re a token!” when Andrean fans pointed to African-American students at the game.
In light of that incident, parents on Wednesday evening urged administrators to use the graffiti as a teachable moment to show there would be visible consequences for other racially charged incidents.
Gall said that generally, when schools face these type of incidents, it should already have a plan in place to address it openly and frankly.
“They are parents thinking about the safety of their children,” Gall said. “I think it’s a real opportunity to engage these parents …and how to make the school a more welcoming place for everyone. It’s something that every school community needs to think about. It doesn’t matter if you are a private school (or public). Bias incidents can happen in any school community.
“Something like this can happen, despite everyone’s best intentions,” she said.
Ellerbe has called for greater diversity among staff to more effectively deal with discipline issues at the school.
“We are trying to bring that issue to the table,” she said. “This is not about the slander of Andrean.”
“Parents in that room last night have thousands of dollars invested in their children’s education,” she said of the school’s $8,600 tuition. “If we wanted it to go down” we would withdraw our children, she said.
“This is the perfect year for it,” she said. “We have new blood in the administration. It’s a good time to address these concerns head-on.”
We want our children to “have a nurturing and a good environment every day. They need that,” she said. “We want the best for Andrean as a whole. That’s why my daughter is still there.”
Forum set for Tuesday
Andrean will hold another parent forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the high school cafeteria at 5959 Broadway, Merrillville.