Community Assails Chappaqua School Officials for Inaction on Racism

By Bridget Bonanni

The Chappaqua Board of Education faced intense backlash from outraged community members Monday evening over its handling of a racist video that resurfaced and was circulated last week throughout the community.

The more than four-hour live-streamed meeting addressed the 10-second TikTok video that went viral throughout the community showing several Horace Greeley High School students who recorded themselves using the n-word inside the school’s cafeteria last February.

Current high school students, Greeley alumni and parents expressed their anger and disgust over how the district has often ignored racially-charge incidents and emphasizing the need for change.

Erica Graves, a 2008 Greeley graduate, posed a few pointed questions to the administration and the board.

“What are you going to do to ensure that all students, especially black students, feel safe, valued and respected?” Graves asked. “What are you going to do to educate your white students about the effects that systemic racism has had on black people in this country? What are you going to do to ensure that you’re developing the next generation of students to be culturally aware students that understand this world outside of this privileged bubble?”

Gavrie Elliot, the school’s current Black Student Union president, stressed the need for support from community members while the incident is still raw. He said the support must continue.

“Racism is not new at Greeley and it didn’t start with these videos,” Elliot said. “I understand that outrage is a very simple way to react to the situation, and believe me, I am also outraged, but the focus should be on action. We have to look at how we can create new ways and new pathways to a racially equitable society in our town.”

Before the public comments, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Ackerman, opened with a 10-minute statement explaining how the video was handled at the district level shortly after it was initially discovered.

She said neither the school nor the district notified parents at the time because the students “were held accountable for their behavior.” Typically, when previous incidents have occurred the district has transmitted notifications to families when the perpetrators weren’t known.

The students’ punishments have not been made public by the district, although community members on social media posts and again Monday night have repeatedly referred to one- and two-day suspensions.

“The students are disciplined based on the nature of the incident and their age,” Ackerman said.

She also explained that the incident will appear in the students’ attendance and discipline files, but won’t be included on their transcript, which is what is sent to colleges during the application process.

She also said there have been other incidents.

“I think it’s important for me to share with you that we have had incidents at every level this year that were inappropriate, hurtful and discriminatory in nature – elementary, middle and high school,” Ackerman said.

Board members followed with their statements acknowledging how much needs to change with how the district operates and the importance of diversity.

Trustee Victoria Tipp called for the district to create an advisory committee on racism and race relations for officials to listen and learn and expedite a healing and reconciliation process within the community.

“It’s about repairing harm and rebuilding relationships, bringing students together to acknowledge what has occurred and the consequences and reverberation of racist remarks and actions,” Tipp said.

Following the officials’ statements, each speaker was given three minutes and was required to state his or her name and connection to the district.

Alyssa Ashley, a 2014 Greeley graduate, said she experienced racism since attending Roaring Brook Elementary School, and was called the n-word in the Greeley cafeteria. She said officials seem surprised to hear what students of color are now sharing.

“And that’s because punishment has never been shown at Greeley in any of these situations and they often are swept under the rug,” Ashley said. “Punishment will show that these acts will no longer be tolerated. As a school district, you need to take accountability. If students are not taught properly (about racism) at home, then they need to be taught at school.”

Stefan Brisney, who graduated from Greeley in 2007, said he discovered the TikTok video on Reddit. He was infuriated that the students “received nothing but a slap on the wrist” and claimed that Chappaqua is best at “saving face and pretending nothing is amiss.”

“Simply saying students were held accountable, when in fact all they were given was a one- or two-day suspension, is a testament to how seriously this administration takes racism – not seriously at all,” Brisney said. “That’s the kind of suspension that a student would get for vaping in the bathroom.”

Teddy Graves, a 2013 graduate, said he was appalled by the way the board handled the incident, partly because his sister was given the same suspension for opening a window without permission.

“The fact that they got two days says more about how you guys look at me than how they do, because as kids we all make mistakes,” Graves said. “I’m 25 and I make mistakes all of the time. Your response to that shows how little you care for me and how little you see me.”

Jennifer Klein, the mother of a freshman, said she and a few other Chappaqua parents had formed a local committee several years ago to address the escalating hate and bigotry in the country.

They met with every principal in the district in 2017 to learn what could be done to help create meaningful diversity and tolerance programming, she said. Then, after a meeting with the superintendent a year later to address the matter, there was no follow-up.

“All of the principals were receptive to speaking with us, but they all treated this as a one-off meeting and never circled back to us to address what changes they might make in response to our suggestions,” Klein said.

Ella Smith, a graduating senior at Greeley, said institutionalized racism is prevalent in the school. She suggested creating a more diverse faculty would help.

“The people that students will look up to, white students included, are teachers and if none of their teachers are people of color…they will be conditioned to only look up to people who are white,” Smith said. “That is extremely detrimental to their view of the world.”

Eugene Song, a parent of two young girls in the district, said there is no excuse for a district of Chappaqua’s standing to handle this issue so poorly.

“In comparison to the majority of the country, we have every resource, every advantage and every privilege, or another way to look at it is that we have no excuse. We must do better,” Song said.