FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — A student at Edison High School shared recent events at school have not made her feel safe.
Those comments come after offensive markings were discovered on the Edison High School Campus in Southwest Fresno.
District officials said they were first made aware of the racial slur and Nazi swastika, found in a parking lot, on January 23.
“It looks like it might have been written in something like makeup. When it was reported, immediately our site administration went into investigation mode,” said Nikki Henry, Chief Communications Officer of Fresno Unified School District.
But Board of Education Trustee Keisha Thomas said the graffiti was first spotted back in August of last year.
“It’s been lingering,” said Thomas. “We are unsure how many people its harmed.”
“What we do know is factual is that administration only learned of it when it was reported on Thursday morning,” said Henry. “If it’s been there for some time, that wasn’t something that administration was aware of unfortunately.”
The district’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department became involved and quickly removed the offensive markings and contacted Fresno Police.
Officers are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
“We do want to hold people accountable for what they’re doing and we want to send the message that it is not OK,” said Fresno Police Officer Luke Tran.
This is not the first alleged hate crime reported on Edison’s campus. Last year, offensive writing and a theft were reported.
There is no indication the incidents are related, but officials say it is a disturbing reminder that more work needs to be done to ensure everyone feels safe at schools.
“It really reminds us again that we are not past racism; we are not past hate in our country and in our local community,” said Henry.
“You can’t stop people from spewing hate and all we can do is try to help them to be better people,” said Thomas.
