Students and community condemn racist Padlet attack at Lowell High; board pledges audits and student supports

Students, alumni and community leaders told the San Francisco Board of Education that an incident on Jan. 20 in which pornographic images and racial slurs were posted to a Padlet used in an anti-racism lesson has reawakened decades of trauma surrounding Lowell High School. The posts were taken down by school staff and the district says it is investigating who created the entries. Assistant Superintendent Bill Sanderson told the board the posting was discovered Wednesday afternoon, removed and is the subject of an ongoing investigation; staff said they have not yet identified the responsible individual.

Lowell students and supporters said the episode was not an isolated prank. Members of the Lowell Black Student Union, the African American Parent Advisory Council (APAC), the San Francisco Alliance of Black School Educators and the NAACP described long-standing patterns of anti‑Black and racist conduct at Lowell, and urged the board to act on a set of demands presented by students in 2016. Those four focal demands include increasing African‑American staff and recruitment, curricular changes including ethnic studies, hiring a dedicated African‑American recruitment officer and establishing a dedicated African‑American community space at Lowell.

Student speakers described immediate harm and called for accountability and more than apologies. "This is trauma," student delegates said; one student asked why administrators had suggested the incident might be the work of an outside hacker when students and alumni said the content reflected a pattern of behavior at Lowell. Community voices urged the board to treat the episode as a hate‑motivated act under district policy (Board Policy 5145.9) and California law and to move beyond incident‑by‑incident responses.

Board members, several of whom noted they had been hearing similar testimony for decades, pledged immediate and longer-term measures. The superintendent and commissioners said the district will: pursue an equity audit in partnership with community groups including the NAACP and the San Francisco Alliance of Black School Educators; establish affinity and healing spaces for students and families; review progress on the 2016 Lowell demands and report back to the board; and examine whether additional administrative or staffing changes are needed at Lowell. Superintendent Vincent Matthews told the board "the buck stops here" and committed to follow up and to report measurable progress within months.

Longstanding numbers were discussed: school staff told commissioners that, as of 2020, Lowell had three African‑American teachers out of about 117 (roughly 3%), lower than SFUSD’s district average and below the state average. District staff said a student advisor position has been assigned to support outreach but that students and community members say the actions taken so far are insufficient.

Students and community leaders asked the board for clearer timelines and stronger disciplinary and accountability mechanisms. Several called for consideration of structural options — from major cultural overhaul to even dismantling or consolidating the selective‑admissions model at Lowell — to prevent future harms. The board agreed to pursue immediate supports and a formal process to audit and address school culture districtwide.

Next procedural steps: district staff will continue the investigation into the Padlet posting and report back on findings; the board said it expects an equity audit in partnership with community organizations and pledged to check progress on student demands within three months. Public comment on the item stretched over several hours; board discussion and staff responses were recorded and will be followed by specific motions and potential policy recommendations in coming meetings.