‘Abhorrent behavior.’ Fayette County Schools officials investigating social media posts.
Fayette County Public Schools officials on Thursday denounced a social media post containing the N-word and appearing to threaten a Tates Creek High School student, saying the “despicable act” is being investigated.
The response from district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall and Tates Creek High Principal Marty Mills came after a female student reacted on social media to a post that made a reference to her. The student said she felt threatened and had experienced consistent racism at Tates Creek High School in her four years there.
Fayette County Public Schools responded in a series of posts on Twitter and in a statement Thursday afternoon.
“We denounce this abhorrent behavior in the strongest of terms,” said Deffendall. “There is no tolerance for acts of hate in the Fayette County Public Schools and we are taking swift and decisive action to ensure the safety of our students and address this despicable act.”
“Social justice is woven into the fabric of our school district and we take seriously our role in confronting the hate that is too often learned at home,” Deffendall said.
The matter is under investigation by school leaders and the Fayette County Public Schools police department. “We will pursue this matter to the furthest extent and those involved will receive serious disciplinary consequences,” Deffendall said.
Mills said the diversity of the school community is one of the things that makes Tates Creek High School “an amazing place to learn and work.”
He said Tates Creek High School is one of Fayette County’s most racially diverse schools. Students at Tates Creek speak more than 28 languages at home.
“This behavior is the antithesis of what we expect at Tates Creek High School,” Mills said. “ We are appalled that a member our community would engage in this type of violent hate speech and we stand in unity to denounce such behavior and make it known that hate is not welcome here.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 6:45 PM.