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    Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3-18-22

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    The superintendent sent a letter to address racist and bullying social media posts made by students. One student was criminally charged and others face discipline. A town hall meeting will be held to discuss how to address racism and bullying in the district.

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    Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3-18-22

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    WGRZ-TV
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    The superintendent sent a letter to address racist and bullying social media posts made by students. One student was criminally charged and others face discipline. A town hall meeting will be held to discuss how to address racism and bullying in the district.

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    Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3-18-22

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    The superintendent sent a letter to address racist and bullying social media posts made by students. One student was criminally charged and others face discipline. A town hall meeting will be held to discuss how to address racism and bullying in the district.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    2K views2 pages

    Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3-18-22

    Uploaded by

    WGRZ-TV
    The superintendent sent a letter to address racist and bullying social media posts made by students. One student was criminally charged and others face discipline. A town hall meeting will be held to discuss how to address racism and bullying in the district.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    3/18/22, 4:19 PM Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3/18/22

    Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3/18/22

    Lewiston-Porter Central School District


    Our Purpose, Your Pathway, Our Promise.
    Paul J. Casseri
    Superintendent of Schools

    March 18, 2022

    Dear Lewiston-Porter School Community:

    This has been a difficult week at Lewiston-Porter. Since Monday, we have been working on the
    disciplinary follow-up of the threatening social media media posts made at the Middle School.
    We have been collaborating with the Lewiston Police Department on this investigation and, to
    date, one student has been charged criminally and at least one other student is facing criminal
    charges in the matter. For other students involved, while they may not have been criminally
    charged, they are being adjudicated under New State Education Law and our District Code of
    Conduct. New York State Education Law specifically affords a school district the opportunity to
    suspend a student permanently from school for the most serious of offenses. Further, New York
    State Education Law compels a school district to make these decisions based on the
    adjudicated offense, the students prior disciplinary record and the student’s age. Once these
    matters have been properly heard and all due process rights afforded to the families, the district
    will move forward with appropriate outcomes based on the evidence and the process outlined
    in law. As I have stated, the District takes these incidents very seriously and is working closely
    with our district legal counsel to address these matters to the greatest extent possible.

    Out of this terrible incident we have also learned within the context of this online messaging,
    that students were also engaged in significant harassing behavior using highly insensitive,
    racially-motivated language. This is so unfortunate and absolutely unacceptable. Recent social
    media posts and community member emails indicate that this type of behavior may be a more
    pervasive problem in our schools. I have stated clearly, this is not what we are about at
    Lewiston-Porter. I truly believe that. I truly believe that the vast majority of our families, students
    and staff are kind, caring people that respect all individuals regardless of their race, their
    gender, or their disability. Over and over again, I have witnessed incredible acts of kindness
    and caring at all levels of our school district. Nevertheless, I would be naive not to realize that
    racist beliefs or bullying behaviors are non-existent at Lewiston-Porter.

    I have been in education for 37 years. I started my career in the City of Buffalo, prior to my
    arrival at Lewiston-Porter in 2005. Over my career, I have also worked in the Greece School
    District, Sweet Home Central School District, and Frontier Central School District.

    https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1ZBnVYs5DifE2vUkanTzW1H7ykDXhu9PImxRZogWDQt4/mobilebasic 1/2
    3/18/22, 4:19 PM Community Message-Racism & Bullying 3/18/22

    Unfortunately, in every district, I have witnessed negative harassing behavior to some degree.
    Community
    Prior to becomingMessage-Racism & Bullying
    Superintendent, in my eleven years as3/18/22
    the Principal of  Lewiston-Porter High
    School, we worked to continually develop a culture of respect and inclusivity. I know my current
    administrative team, including the building principals and assistant principals, continually work
    to foster school communities that value kindness and respect for all. We have added
    programming and strategies, including the use of outside agencies, to address these concerns.
    We want our schools to be a lighthouse for our community and for Western New York.

    We need to do better! To that end, we need to initiate a deeper conversation within our school
    community to foster better understanding and healing. We will be offering a Town Hall Meeting
    on Thursday April, 7th, at 6pm at the High School auditorium. I hope at this meeting to
    hear from one or more experts in the field, looking at how we can begin to address this issue
    more deeply in our district. We will also hear from the Lewiston-Porter administrative team as to
    our current practice for addressing racially harassing or bullying behaviors. Finally, we will offer
    an open microphone to hear from our community around this difficult issue of racism and
    bullying in our schools. The goal of the meeting is to listen, inform, and begin a dialogue that
    will impact the school community in a positive way. We will have more details on the meeting
    next week.

    Finally, to all members of our community, especially our students, if you are experiencing or
    have experienced racism or bullying at school please know we are ready to address each and
    every issue. I am encouraging any parent or student to use the anonymous tip email located on
    the front page of the district website. You have my pledge that any tip or message will be
    investigated fully and appropriate consequences, if necessary, will be applied. We are here to
    help and support all students and families.

    These are difficult conversations. Nevertheless these conversations are important if we are to
    create the kind of school district we want for each and every student. I look forward to the
    meeting on April 7th.

    Sincerely yours,

    Paul J. Casseri

    Superintendent of Schools

    4061 Creek Road, Youngstown, NY  14174


    Phone 716-286-7266  |  Fax: 716-286-7859  | Email:  [email protected]

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