Student Disciplined For Racially-Charged Comments

SLATE HILL – A male Minisink Valley High School student has been disciplined by the district for making racially-charged comments about a female classmate on social media.
The offender snapped a photo of the victim as she was putting away her binder in a class and then posted the photo with a caption that read: “A wild n…. has appeared we must lynch her.”

“The district has no tolerance for hateful language or any type of conduct that endanger the physical or emotional sense of safety and security of our students and staff,” Superintendent of Schools Brian Monahan said in a message to the community. “Those who choose to test these boundaries will ensure they consequences outlines by the district’s code of conduct, and/or those under the law.”

He said the district has been aware of the incident since it occurred in late November, but only spoke out publicly now because the district received a number of phone calls about it.
Monahan said the incident was reported to law enforcement immediately and “The ensuing external and internal investigations, and collaboration between the district and law enforcement resulted in disciplinary action for the offending student.”

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler told media sources by email that his office was made aware of the incident. “Juvenile matters, except for specifically defined offenses fall to the jurisdiction of Family Court where the focus is on offender rehabilitation.”

Monahan encouraged parents and guardians “to have conversations with their children and reinforce these (no tolerance for hateful) messages at home.”