ST. LOUIS — The Granite City school district is investigating one of its own after a social media post sparked outrage among families.
Board of Education President Matt Jones confirmed in a letter to district families that the school administration “is investigating the matter in line with Board of Education policies and standards.”
The investigation started after someone took screenshots of a comment thread on Facebook and shared the photos with Granite City High School. The person who shared the photos said a member of the school district made racist comments on a post about Black Lives Matter shirts.
“There is no place for hateful language or speech in our District, nor in the Granite City community,” Jones wrote in the letter to families.
The school board president did not go into details about the incident and didn’t name the staff member.
The social media posts prompted calls within the school community for parents to show up to Tuesday night’s board of education meeting.
“We recognize that these comments have caused a lot of anger and concern in our community,” Jones said.
However, he stressed that attendance at meetings has been limited over the past several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and requests to speak at board meetings have to be submitted in advance via email by 4 p.m. the day before.
Tuesday night’s meeting was closed to the public, but live streamed on Facebook, and only one request was sent in by the deadline – a question about student athletes and the plans for fall sports.
Jones said parents and families concerned about the social media posts can submit their requests by 4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 25 ahead of the next board of education meeting on Aug. 25.
