MONROE – Racial tensions at Monroe High School were a concern for some parents even before news of three recent cases of harassment and intimidation.
Catherine Collins recalled when her son, who is black, was attacked in a school hallway in the spring and called “the n-word.”
Now, Collins is among a group of concerned parents driving efforts to address racial tensions at the school. The coalition plans to tap the area’s best ideas and models for improving race relations, while pulling in students, staff, religious leaders and other community members to get involved.
“We’re stopping this before it gets to the point where somebody gets really hurt,” Collins said.
In the last few weeks, a Mexican flag was torn down and thrown into a bathroom, two students of different ethnic minority groups got into a fight, and a black student reported that a white student taunted him with a noose, administrators reported.
Administrators say they don’t know who tore down the flag, but the two students involved in he fight were suspended. Monroe police continue to investigate the third case, in which the black student reported three separate incidents, Monroe police spokeswoman Jan O’Neil said.
In addition to the noose allegation, he also reported derogatory comments at a fast food restaurant and inside the school.
Police are investigating the incidents as malicious harassment – a felony. The case likely will be forwarded to the Snohomish County prosecutor’s office today.
Parents have been discussing the issue since spring. The coalition was formalized at a meeting Thursday, at which Collins said parents urged principal Lou Imbesi to write an open letter to families. The letter was posted Friday on the school’s Web site.
Some parents on Tuesday said they never saw the letter and expressed shock at the news.
Students have talked of racial slurs, off-campus fights between students of different races and Confederate flags displayed prominently on students’ cars.
“But I think this has escalated a lot further,” parent Kathy Collins said of the noose incident.
Others fault administrators for not doing enough to prevent such incidents.
“It goes quite deep here,” parent Mike McDonough said. “Now the sad thing is this is what it takes to get (Superintendent Bill) Prenevost to do something.”
Prenevost said he is aware of the problem and has been addressing it.
The district makes a point of teaching students to respect each other, he said. He pointed to various committees the district has been involved with in the past year to address racism, including the East County Youth Advocacy Network.
“But those (initiatives) don’t stop the isolated or poor thinking of an individual,” Prenevost said. “We certainly don’t feel this is a widespread problem, but there certainly are a few students who can make it feel that way.”
The district will make sure staff look out for racism and continue to discuss the issue with parents and the community, Prenevost said.
Herald reporter Diana Hefley contributed to this article.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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