On the morning of Friday, December 13, Encinal custodial staff were met with offensive vandalism across the entrance of the 200 building. While all of the graffiti was covered up before students arrived on campus, both students and families were informed of the closure of the school’s front entrance. This was followed by a formal response from District Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi that identified Encinal as a victim of a hate crime.
The vandalism, which was first discovered by the custodial staff arriving for their morning shift, was quickly covered up by AUSD’s maintenance and operations staff, with arrangements for its removal being promptly made. This process was expedited primarily for the benefit of Encinal’s diverse student body, as officials have stated that the graffiti depicted various controversial racial and political statements, including the use of various racial slurs. Power washing of the graffiti began as early as 8:00 a.m.
“I am saddened to report that last night just after midnight an individual vandalized Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School by spray painting the front building, sidewalk, and entryway,” said Superintendent Scuderi in an email sent to parents and students. “I want to make it very clear that hate speech has no place in our community.”
Due to the scale of the vandalism and its controversial content, many teachers and students voiced their frustrations.
“I’ve been on this campus since 2002. So, that’s a really long time, and I can honestly tell you we’ve never experienced anything of this magnitude,” said Diana Kenney, a tenured teacher at Encinal. “And I do know that Greg, our custodian, was just in shock of what he saw. So, you know, it wasn’t the usual graffiti situation.”
“All I heard was that it was hate speech. And every adult that I talked to were the adults that I’m close with, they were really hurt and sad… and they were almost to the point of tears,” said an Encinal student who wished to remain anonymous.
Currently, the Alameda Police Department is believed to have the suspected perpetrator in custody.
“I mean, whoever it is we’ll press charges,” said Kevin Gorham, the Athletics Director and head of Leadership at Encinal. “That’s vandalism and defaming a school. And these are things that we don’t condone and people need to understand when they do stuff, there’s consequences.”
While the identity of the suspect has not yet been released, it is believed that the suspect is an adult, and is not associated with the school or student body. In light of the situation, Superintendent Scuderi closed the district’s statement with a message to families encouraging a more progressive mindset heading into the next semester.
“While we cannot eradicate hate in this world – or in the human psyche – we can continue to do our very best to create campuses where all students, staff, and families feel accepted and respected.”
This article will receive live updates as the situation develops
Last Update – 6:00 PM, 12/13/2024
Journalists Ian Frost, Jacob Benaquista, Man Chan, Rain Munkhbat, Astrid Heifner, Emma Dubow, and Kaela Hurst contributed to this article.
