On Thursday and Friday in advisory, teachers will discuss a concerning topic; swastikas found on classroom desks. In the past two weeks, two different teachers have reported to the administration that swastikas were found on desks in two classrooms. A swastika is a symbol that, in the Western world, represents Nazis. Yesterday morning, on Sep. 9, our school principal Dr. Williams came to our Journalism class to discuss the previously mentioned issue. To get even more information, we headed to the office to talk to Ms. Rasheed, a member of our administration.
After Dr. Williams got two reports from two different teachers, she wanted to hold an assembly as soon as possible to address the issue. However, there were some concerns about that course of action. Dr. Williams and Ms. Rasheed talked to the Office of Equity of the Oakland Unified School District. They recommended discussing the situation in small groups (like classes) instead of grade levels, due to the sensitive topic and the inference that students in large groups will not give the same kind of attention that they could give in smaller groups. The administration plans to hold a meeting today after school to instruct the advisory teachers on how to present the topic to their classes.