District says students were disciplined, referred to police
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
The Burlington Area School District took a rare step last week when it released findings from a series of investigations related to racially motivated incidents inside and outside school grounds.
The district, which has been criticized by some for what they perceive as a lack of response to allegations of racism, decided to disclose outcomes of each investigation from last fall for transparency and clarity.
“When there is an incident in a school, the Burlington Area School District takes it seriously, completes a thorough investigation, and assigns consequences,” the district said in a statement. “To protect privacy, the district does not typically communicate the findings of its investigations or consequences issued to students to the public.”
The Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism has publicly decried acts of racism directed towards students of color who attend BASD schools the last several months.
The local group, founded in 2019, has held protests at the district office on Kane Street, caused a Board of Education meeting to abruptly adjourn and worked to raise awareness of racial incidents.
“BASD has been accused of not adequately addressing recent racial incidents,” the district states. “In an effort to be transparent with the public, we are disclosing more details related to racial incidents that took place during the fall 2020 semester.”
The incidents ranged from vandalism of school property to issues involving the football team and disruptions of virtual learning sessions from people outside the district looking to inflame racial tensions.
In cases were students were identified as perpetrators, the district imposed penalties including suspensions and referred criminal matters to police.
To read the full details of the district’s handling of the incidents, see the Feb. 25 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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