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South Orangetown board hears public concern over racially targeted texts; district says it monitored incident but issued no alert
Summary
A resident asked why the district did not send a notification after nationwide text messages targeting students of color. The superintendent said the district monitored the incident with county partners and decided not to issue an alert because district students were not affected; staff will follow up with the commenter.
A community member raised concerns at the South Orangetown Central School District Board of Education meeting on Nov. 19 that the district did not send an alert after nationwide text messages were reported targeting students of color.
The commenter said the texts referenced plantations and other racially inflammatory language and asked why the district had not sent a message to parents and students. "So even by not sending [a] message ... we are not modeling empathy," the resident said, pressing the board to "speak out when needed." The speaker urged the district to hold itself accountable and to act proactively to support students.
In response, the superintendent said the district is "aware of what's happening around the county, around the state, and around the country" and that leadership had discussed the matter with county officials and Lower Hudson County superintendents. "The decision was made that at that particular time, we weren't going to put something out," the superintendent said, adding that the texts had not affected students within the South Orangetown district. The superintendent said the district was monitoring the situation and pledged to follow up with the commenter the next day.
Board meeting protocol on public commentary also was reiterated during the session: speakers are limited to three minutes, references to identifiable students cannot be discussed in public due to FERPA, and questions requiring investigation will be referred to the superintendent for follow up.
The board did not take a formal vote related to district-wide communications during the meeting; the superintendent said staff would follow up with the resident and county partners about next steps.
