In a sobering announcement at Thursday night‘s (March 21) Board of Education meeting, Wilton Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Smith asked the board members to schedule a special meeting early next month to discuss new incidents of racism and antisemitism at the schools and how they need to respond.
“At the end of last week there were a number of incidents that have been brought to my attention here at the high school, across some of our lower schools, and there have been incidents across the year where students are using the N-word,” Smith said.
“We had a report of some graffiti on one of the storage containers out by the baseball field at the end of last week … There was some hateful graffiti. There was the N-word and I guess a swastika.”
Smith said he wants to use the time at the meeting “to engage in a conversation about race and equity and inclusion.”
Smith said he is currently drafting a letter he hopes to send out on Friday, March 21, outlining the situation and why he believes a response is needed.
“One of the fundamental concerns for me in hearing some of these stories, I know we have students of color in this building and across our other schools who, in many cases, don’t feel welcome here,” he said, “and in the worst cases feel unsafe here, and that is not the kind of environment that we can endorse, foster or support.”
“Recognizing that, we have to do more,” he said.
“We can look at these as isolated incidents, or we can step back from the number of incidents and we can just identify that there’s a pattern of behavior here that’s really intolerable, and I think that’s the approach that we have to take,” Smith said.
Over the past several months the town has seen some public incidents of antisemitism. At an anti-hate forum held on Feb. 5 at the Riverbrook Regional/Wilton YMCA, other people shared about experiences they’ve had in Wilton in which cultural and personal differences were mocked by others.
“I think it’d be important, if we have people who are interested, to share some stories,” Smith said, “to come in and share some stories and then we can talk to some staff and some administrators about what’s in place and what some next steps are.”
“The framework that we need to focus on is really one of prevention,” he said. “What are the educational programs that we can engage in here in our schools, as well as supporting our families at home, to really teach kids about appropriate language and sensitivity.”
Smith said the district also needed to clarify its response based on what it is teaching students.
“Just make what our values and expectations are very clear, and then how do we engage with students who violate those norms, as well as support those students who are victimized,” he said.
“I know that we are a community filled with good, caring people,” Smith said. “I also know we’re a community filled with young people who are learning the way. and getting exposed to a lot of information.”
“I think as a school community we have an opportunity to lean into this moment and to bring some people forward and to hear some stories and to do some different kind of training and support with our students and with our staff to raise these issues and to better live up to our values,” he said.
He said the plan will be, beginning with the BOE, to take a closer look at current practices and perhaps bring back external supports that have been utilized in the past.
Smith said he hopes to see the district “just take these concerns on and do it in a transparent way.”
Nationwide pattern…bound to arrive in Wilton