February 28, 2020
Dear Chesapeake High School Families:
I am writing to inform you about a very disturbing incident that was reported to us this morning. At about
11:30 a.m., one of our students told an assistant principal that he had seen racist graffiti written on the inside of
a stall in the bathroom near our social studies classrooms.
The graffiti consisted of two words, the latter of which is a racist slur. We immediately alerted our School
Resource Officer, closed the bathroom, and removed the graffiti as we began our investigation into this matter.
We have interviewed several students who told us they saw the graffiti and are still attempting to determine
when it was written on the stall door. I urge you to talk to your child and relay any pertinent information to us
as soon as possible.
More importantly, I want to convey to you my firm belief that while this incident is reprehensible,
condemnable, and most likely illegal, it does not come close to reflecting our students or our school
community as a whole. I have seen, heard, and interacted with our staff, our students, and their families enough
since my arrival over the summer to know that our community is appalled by such hate-filled, repugnant
language.
We have done so much since September to eradicate the label with which our school has been painted. We
have a lot of work left to do, but I am incredibly proud of our student body, our staff, and our community.
We are now called again to stand up and lead, not sit by and watch. There are plenty of examples of that in our
hallways and beyond. It was just Wednesday night for example, prior to a forum on bias and hate crimes, that
our students engaged in a conversation with County Executive Steuart Pittman about this crucial topic. They
were asked for their views, and they became key contributors to this courageous and crucial conversation.
That is the leadership we need. That is the change we must help bring about.
We will take appropriate action against any student found to be involved in this bias-motivated behavior, and I
urge you to take action as well. Take action by talking to your child. Take action by urging your child to report
such matters immediately, as I am grateful this student did. Take action by doing what you can outside of our
school to bring about change.
You have my commitment, and that of my team, to continue to be a part that effort. Thank you for doing
likewise.
Should your child have a need to talk about this matter further, please have him or her ask any staff member to
speak to a counselor.
Sincerely,

John Yore
Principal
JY/bm