A Statement from Superintendent Mr. Justin M. Jennings

8/15/2017

Today at the statue of Charles H. Hackley on the Muskegon High School campus, graffiti with slurring racial comments was found painted on the statue. Upon the discovery of this disturbing image Muskegon staff alerted the authorities and then began work to immediately remove the graffiti. This type of racial discrimination and vandalism is prohibited in school district policy and will not be tolerated.

There are policies and procedures in place to deal with anyone in violation of school district policy or the law. We will keep our community, employees and the media updated as we learn more about this destructive incident. We believe in working to create a learning environment that provides the best for every child, every day. We do not tolerate “hate speech” or any behavior that threatens the well-being of our children.

We will be working with our staff and counselors to provide support for our students to provide comfort and to create a teaching moment to remind them that this type of behavior is neither welcome nor tolerated in our schools or our community. We will be holding a town-hall meeting in the near future to discuss this situation and to provide a forum to have a dialogue with the community.