SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — The two 14-year old high school students are responsible for the racist vandalism found on the wall of a Sacramento-area elementary school, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office announced Monday.
On February 15, school officials at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Rancho Cordova reported racist writing that included the N-word, "KKK" and swastikas had been spray-painted on their campus during President's Day weekend.
The Sacramento City Unified School District says it worked closely with detectives to investigate the incident.
"Abraham Lincoln Elementary School Administrators were able to obtain video surveillance footage showing two juveniles on the campus grounds during the same time period when the vandalism was believed to have occurred," a statement from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office says.
The two juveniles identified were both 14-year-old students from George Washington Carver High School. The two schools are about a mile away from each other.
Detectives say the vandalism resulted in over $400 of damage, exceeding the threshold for felony vandalism. Detectives issued both juveniles citations for felony vandalism.
A statement from SCUSD says "appropriate disciplinary action" is being taken by the district.
“While the identification of those involved provides some closure, the impact of racist acts leaves lasting hurt for our students, staff and community,” SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar says in a statement. “Sac City Unified will continue to support our students, staff and families at Lincoln Elementary in the wake of this incident, and work with our entire community to interrupt and address racism. We are committed to building an equitable and positive culture and climate that supports success for all students at every school in our district.”
This racist vandalism is one of several incidents of racism that have been recently reported at Sacramento city schools.
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Racist vandalism at McClatchy High School
The vandalism found at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School closely followed an incident in which someone wrote a racial slur above a water fountain on the campus of C.K. McClatchy High School.
On February 17, SCUSD identified the person responsible as a Black student. They said that "appropriate disciplinary action" is being taken by the district.
"It was a prank that went sideways is my characterization of what that young woman said in her confession," SCUSD liaison for civil rights issues Mark Harris said.
SCUSD suspended a teacher who previously used a racial slur in her classroom
In January, a teacher with SCUSD was suspended without pay after being recorded using the "N-word" in a class with 7th graders at Kit Carson International Academy.
The incident happened a couple of weeks before school ended in June 2021.
In a statement from SCUSD, the teacher was initially served termination papers in December 2021. She has been on unpaid suspension since that time.
Racist vandalism at West Campus High School
In November 2021, West Campus High School assistant principal Dr. Elysse Versher says she found the N-word spray-painted five times on a wall near her assigned parking spot on campus. Dr. Versher says she also experienced racism and harassment on social media in response to enforcing the school's dress code.
"Separately, SCUSD is continuing to collaborate with the Sacramento Police Department on an ongoing investigation of a separate incident of racism that occurred at West Campus last fall," a statement from the district says. "This remains an open, active investigation."
The Sacramento Police Department encourages anyone in the community with information about the incident to come forward.
