By Sarah Gibson
NEW HAMPSHIRE PUBLIC RADIO
Trinity High School, a Catholic school in Manchester, canceled classes on Tuesday to address the fallout from a student’s racist social media post that became public last week.
The post, now deleted, included a photo of two white students holding a hand-written sign referencing Black Americans and slavery. Its wording was identical to other signs that have circulated widely on the internet and drawn rebuke from high schools and community members in other states.
Officials with the Office of Catholic Schools at the Diocese of Manchester have condemned the post but say they can’t share details about what discipline the student faced.
They do say, however, that the student is no longer enrolled at Trinity High School.
A spokesperson for the district said that the school held a non-academic day on Tuesday in order to focus on a “full day of listening, reflection, and dialogue” about the incident.
“Our goal is to create, reinforce and encourage a space to listen not only today but on an ongoing basis,” the school said.
Since the post became public, former students and members of the local Black Lives Matter chapter have shared stories of other experiences at Trinity High School that they say show the regularity of racist attitudes at the school.
On Monday, school leaders met with James McKim, president of the Manchester NAACP, to discuss ways to move forward. McKim stressed to NHPR that questions of discipline vary depending on the circumstances, including whether the racist incident took place on campus, or at a student’s home.
“How this is handled is different than if the student were in class at the time, using the school’s network,” he said. “My sense is there isn’t a single best practice that can be used in all these cases.”
McKim said he’s encouraging the Office of Catholic Schools to develop a plan for improving race relations and inclusion at the 34 schools it oversees in New Hampshire.
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