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Dear Parents,
As we return from Thanksgiving break and prepare for a quick three week transition to Winter break, we want to make you aware of an incident that transpired on the campus of Meridian HS.
Recently, an image of a swastika was found in an elevator within Meridian HS. Administrative staff was alerted of this incident and it was immediately removed. This hate based imagery is believed to be an isolated incident. In reviewing the video footage, we have been able to isolate the timing of the event and believe it to have occurred outside of school hours.
In the forthcoming days, we will be reinforcing our zero-tolerance policy regarding religious and/or racially hate based messages and images to our student body and community. In this message, we will encourage students to remain vigilant as they monitor the status of these images within the walls of Meridian and the broader Falls Church community.
If your student has any information they wish to share regarding this incident, please have them reach out to a teacher or an administrator here at Meridian HS. Any information around this will be addressed as a part of the investigation and under FCCPS’s policy regarding the Prohibition of Harassment of a Protected Class. We are providing you with the link to the policy which can be found online at Policy JFHA/GBA. This policy was developed with guidance from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. This policy also prohibits retaliation of any kind towards, by, or on behalf of anyone involved in the investigation.
As the administrative team continues to investigate this incident and engages in conversations with our students around issues of hate, we are re-sharing a few resources for your use - as we need your help reinforcing that hate will not be tolerated in our school or our community.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our administrative team if you have any questions.
Respectfully,
The Meridian Administrative Team
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