Investigation of individuals responsible for acts of vandalism on campus Jan. 19 is underway. What follows is a message to students in 6th-period classes from Principal Peyton Chapman on Jan. 21.

The Cardinal Times will have full coverage of the damage and investigation as details become known.

Statement to students from Principal Peyton Chapman:

Please respond to the following prompt on a piece of paper that will be turned in to your teacher. Please write your name on the prompt.

These will not be shared with other students but we’d like to be able to follow up with you, to offer support if this prompt causes stress or anxiety, or to ask you any follow up questions that might be able to help us improve our school community and school safety.

Sometime after 5:00pm on Monday, Martin Luther King Day, visitors vandalized our school by breaking two classroom windows in the cafeteria area, smearing blueberries on a wall, spreading wood tacks across the teachers parking lot by the ceramics room, throwing garbage through the hallway upstairs and carving a swastika on a teacher’s door on the second floor.

This is very unusual behavior at Lincoln. In addition we were alerted yesterday morning of a threat of violence that was written in a regular ballpoint pen on the inside of a boy’s bathroom stall upstairs in Sophomore hall. We do not know if these issues are related or not but we want to discuss them as a community.

1. How do these kinds of actions impact us and our school community?

2. How can we work together to help keep our school safe from vandalism, hate speech and threats of violence?

3. Please share any ideas or information that you may have about any of these incidents. Your insights, reflections and thoughts are important to us as well as your safety. We hope we can work together to make everyone feel safe and respected at our school.

Thank you for your help, suggestions and reflections. If this prompt raises feelings of stress or anxiety please know that our counselors and staff are available to listen and support you.

If you think of anything related to these questions later, or in the following weeks, please alert your teacher or an administrator that you’d like to talk and we will be available.

Lincoln is generally a very safe school because of our students and faculty. We are confident that by working together we will help everyone feel safe and respected.

Sincerely,

Ms Chapman, Ms Kinnersley, Mr. Neal