Osseo Area Schools has identified the student involved in writing racist messages inside a Maple Grove Senior High School bathroom.
In a letter, district officials said that the investigation has concluded and that the district is taking steps to have constructive conversations around race.
"I am committed to ensuring schools where racism is not tolerated and is not ignored," Kate Maguire, district superintendent, said in the letter.
Due to student privacy laws, district officials said that they cannot disclose how the student was disciplined. Officials did say that the district considered the graffiti a "serious incident" and appropriate action was taken.
Following Election Day, students discovered racist graffiti in their school bathroom which included messages such as "#whitesonly," "Trump Train" and "#gobacktoafrica."
Students returning to school the next day were greeted with kind notes covering the school walls with messages like "Love will conquer all."
That same day, students outraged by the incident skipped school and held an off-campus meeting, where they voiced their fears and concerns over the incident. Students said they felt unsafe but not surprised by the graffiti.
District officials have developed short-term and long-term actions to address the graffiti, according to the letter. Maple Grove Senior High staff will now dedicate additional time in their monthly meetings to racial equity. In December, the district is inviting Maple Grove Senior High School students and their families to attend, " REAL Talk." The family nights will give parents the opportunity to share their thoughts on race and the school climate.
The district will also host a conversation on race at its fourth annual community forum in March.
"I also want to emphasize that the long-term work of interrupting racism in our schools and communities will require all of us working together and taking actions that are sustained over time, both in schools and in the greater community, " Maguire said in the letter.
