WESTFIELD — After a swastika was found drawn on a Westfield Middle School student’s notebook on Tuesday, Jan. 28, Principal Jesse McMillan responded with a letter to the school community. He said earlier in the month, swastikas were also found drawn inside a school-issued device and on an eraser that was found on the floor.
“They appear to be separate incidents,” McMillan said. “My first response as building principal is to condemn it, which is why I sent out the letter — to make it very clear it doesn’t have a place anywhere, especially in the school community.”
In the letter, McMillan said the incidents are being thoroughly investigated.
“While we believe strongly in education as our primary tool to combat prejudice, we will also implement severe disciplinary consequences for any student found creating or promoting hate symbols or engaging in antisemitic behavior,” he wrote.
“This swastika was the official symbol of Nazi Germany, representative of Nazi ideas and beliefs. This symbol represents hate, violence and the systematic persecution of human beings. Hate symbols of any kind have no place in our school community. Such actions create an unsafe learning environment, inflict real harm on our students and staff and fundamentally contradict our educational mission. I want to assure you that we take these matters very seriously.”
McMillan said the school will be shifting its approach based on the recent incident. He said a couple of weeks ago, a lesson was given to all students on discrimination. Moving forward, more specific lessons will be given on antisemitism and a more historical understanding of the swastika symbol.
“We have 700 seventh and eighth grade students with varying levels of understanding. They don’t have a deep understanding of what occurred or why it occurred. Where it is occurring in our building — students don’t understand the repercussions,” he said, adding that there are some students who do understand the severity of it.
McMillan said this is the first time since he’s been principal at Westfield Middle School that it’s reached the level where he has needed to provide a community response. He said he will be meeting and partnering with the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts to develop more appropriate resources for this age group. He said they told him incidents of antisemitism have increased by more than 100%.
“Of course, we’ll continue to investigate — there will be disciplinary consequences assigned in addition to the educational component,” he said, adding that the incident was severe and reached the level where discipline is necessary. He said the student in the latest incident has not been identified.
The school is also enhancing its monitoring and reporting protocols for hate-related incidents, and reinforcing the message that all students must report concerning behavior to trusted adults and not be silent bystanders.
“One of the things I’ve been sharing is that as a school it is certainly our responsibility to educate students, [but that] needs to extend beyond our walls, too. It is critical for caregivers and community members to be having these conversations outside of the school setting in order to have a real impact,” McMillan said. “I think this is an opportunity for us to communicate the importance of having these conversations. While it is extremely unfortunate — through this, my hope is that we become a stronger school community, become more proactive in addressing these issues and ensuring that our school is safe for all.”
