‘Horrific comments’: Southern California school district investigating racist letter to principal

Officials at Lankershim Elementary School in Highland, Calif., are trying to figure out who sent a racist letter to the school’s principal.

“It had horrific comments in it related to race, derogatory comments, unconscionable comments,” Dale Marsden, San Bernardino City Unified School District superintendent, told Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC.

The letter, directed at the principal Crecia Robinson, was discovered last Tuesday in a school employee’s mailbox. Marsden told parents during a meeting last Thursday that the letter’s contents suggest the person behind it also works at the school.

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“We will find who this person is, we will prosecute them, we will fire them. I’m firm on that, ” Marsden said.

This isn’t the first time Robinson has been targeted by racist notes and letters. In 2015, a note posted in the staff room said, “Thanks, (N-word), for the collaboration” referring to weekly teacher’s meetings.

Prior to that, there was an anonymous comment on a year-end survey that said the school didn’t need a black principal. An investigation into those comments was unable to figure out who was behind them.

The district made all employees undergo cultural proficiency training.

Robinson did not attend Thursday’s meeting and instead has resigned from her position. The district said that she took another position in the district for her health and safety.

“This behavior will not be tolerated,” Marsden said. “Racism is a learned cancer and our hope is to shine a light on this cancer and remove this cancer.”

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