Boyertown >> Boyertown Area School Board President Stephen Elsier commended the administration Tuesday night, May 26, for its handling of racially-charged comments made by students.
“Being a ‘No Place for Hate’ district, it just doesn’t fit,” Elsier said. “I want to commend the administration for taking swift action and for the items being put into place to combat these kind of things from taking place.”
The comments made by Elsier are the result of disciplinary action taken after an investigation into claims that members of the Boyertown Junior High West track team were making derogatory comments toward Pottstown Middle School student athletes during a May 5 track meet in Boyertown. The incident was brought to the district’s attention through a Letter to the Editor that a Pottstown parent wrote to The Mercury.
Superintendent Richard Faidley said after the meeting that the two students found responsible by an investigation into the incident were both suspended. He said that is the maximum punishment for a first-time offense. The students’ names are being withheld to protect their privacy.
The investigation, which was concluded Friday, also found that there was an adult at the meet making racist comments.
Faidley said that they could not determine the identity of the adult, but that measures will be taken in the future to remove any spectator at athletic events in the district who behave inappropriately.
“We would ask them to leave, based on this, and they would not be allowed to return to these events,” Faidley said.
The administration has begun working with Pottstown School District to bring Boyertown and Pottstown students together, away from the field of competition. Faidley said that the upcoming school year would provide opportunities for the two districts to bring their choirs, student councils and other organizations together in a collaborative way.
