Naperville Central High School.
Daily Herald File Photo
Naperville school and police officials are investigating how a racial slur got onto a student’s athletic locker at Naperville Central High School.
According to the student’s mother, the slur was written on his locker after an Oct. 18 game. Her son learned about it as he scrolled through Snapchat on his way home from the game with his mother.
“He said, ‘Mom look, it’s my locker. Look what somebody wrote on it,’” Quiana Richardson recalled. “I look again and I pay attention to the word. I literally swerved in traffic because I was shocked.”
Richardson said she asked her son, whom she did not want named in this story, to take a screenshot and she immediately sent it to one of her son’s football coaches. The following day, she sent emails to the coaching staff, school principal, another school administrator, the district superintendent and several assistant superintendents.
This week she met with school officials who assured her the incident was under investigation. On Wednesday, the school’s resource officer reached out to say the incident was under investigation. Beyond that, she said, she has heard little else other than a few calls from her son’s dean.
In an email to Naperville Central High School parents Friday, the school’s principal, Jackie Thornton, told parents the incident is under investigation and the school will not tolerate the use of racial slurs or hate speech.
“Naperville Central is firmly committed to providing an inclusive, safe and supportive environment for every student, both in the classroom and across all extracurricular activities,” Thornton said in an email to the Daily Herald Saturday. “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by this incident of racial hate speech that has occurred within our school community. The use of racial slurs and/or hate speech will not be tolerated.”
She noted he district cannot discuss “specific student matters” but added the district takes such reports with the “utmost seriousness.”
Naperville Unit District 203 School Board President Kristine Gericke Saturday echoed Thornton’s sentiments.
“It is a priority for the board and the district to make sure all students feel welcome and safe in any of our buildings at all times,” Gericke said.
In an email to city officials Friday, Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres said police were made aware of the incident recently and the department is investigating.
On Saturday, Richardson said while the ink was removed from her son’s locker, the word remains etched in the metal locker from the ink pen used to write it. He has not been given a new locker.
“My son sees this every time he goes into that locker room,” she said.
Richardson also suggested the school should have suspended football practice and games until officials could identify who wrote the word on the locker.
While both she and her son are upset over the incident, Richardson said she plans to keep him at Naperville Central.
“He does not want to leave,” she said. “But I also do not believe he’s safe at Naperville Central.”