“It is extremely disheartening to see this behaviour in our community. The illegal act of defacing school property and student artwork with hate-filled, anti-semitic, and homophobic messages is extremely upsetting and disgraceful.”
Carolynne Bull, Communications Manager at the Trillium Lakelands District School Board says they are taking action after a shed painted rainbow colours by students at Monck Public School in Bracebridge was vandalized for a third time in April.
“Trillium Lakelands District School Board has contracted private security to patrol the area during the evening, overnight, and on weekends,” said Carolynne in a statement to 705BLACKFLY.COM. “The images caught on a surveillance camera can be extremely difficult to identify the individual(s), especially with the distance to the sports equipment box. Therefore this option is not a perfect solution. The Board has found the presence of a physical person(s) to be more effective.”
The shed was defaced with swastikas and homophobic slurs. The same shed was vandalized twice last year after students painted a mural in rainbow colours. In one case, “Please leave the children alone” was painted on the side. The shed has now been painted gray.
Carolynne says they will provide support to students who may have been upset by this incident.
“Supporting students is a top priority and the school has a number of options available to connect with a caring adult. This could be their classroom teacher, the school’s mental health counsellor and/or the administration. There are also a number community supports that a student can be connected with through the caring adults mentioned.”
OPP Constable Samantha Bigley provided us with photographs of the damage. If you have any information about this investigation please contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
