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Resident tells Northwestern Lehigh board the district "clearly has a racism issue" related to middle school bathroom incident
Summary
During public comment, a resident said five students reported a racist incident and asked the board what it is doing to address it; the board did not provide a substantive public response during the comment period.
During public comment at a Northwestern Lehigh School District board meeting, a resident identified as Laura Dennell told the board the district "clearly has a racism issue" and urged the board to address a reported incident at the middle school.
Dennell said five students had come forward and that derogatory, discriminatory writing had been found in a middle school bathroom. "What are you doing to fix it?" she asked the board. She criticized district leadership and warned the incident could lead to litigation and negative publicity.
Board members noted that the remarks came during the public comment period and that the forum is not typically used for extended back-and-forth. A board member responded, "it's public comment. It's not necessarily a back and forth," and said the board sometimes offers a courtesy answer but did not provide a substantive response on the record at the meeting.
The transcript shows the district did not announce any immediate follow-up or an action item during that meeting regarding the allegation. The resident also returned to speak later in the meeting when the board again opened the floor for public comments.
No district staff presented details, findings or next steps during the meeting record to substantiate or refute Dennell's statements. The board's administrative or investigative response, if any, was not recorded during the session.
