October 29, 2018

Dear McGilvra Parents,

It was brought to my attention that someone or some group left vicious hate messages on school grounds
over the weekend. These messages were targeting members of the Jewish community and members of
the Black community. We are horrified and disgusted by these messages, especially as this happened on
the same weekend as the attack on a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh. We are working quickly to cover
and remove these vicious messages of hate. I am sorry to have to share this news with you, but want to
make sure you understand where our school stands on this type of behavior.

Hate has no place in this school. We will use this as an opportunity to remind ourselves why we are here.
This is an opportunity for education, a time to remind ourselves that we, as a school community, stand for
respect and inclusion. We must be a place where all are free to learn in a safe and welcoming
environment. That is the work that lies before us. We are committed to providing a safe and welcoming
environment where all students can learn. We are teaching our students how to treat each other with
kindness and compassion. We are teaching our students to learn about each other, to find connections
and commonalities, and to celebrate our differences and our backgrounds. Learning about each other
helps build relationships and helps make our community stronger. Hate has no place in this school.

We have a responsibility to make sure all of our students and families feel safe at McGilvra. We are
investigating this incident, but as this happened on the weekend, we do not have a lot of information to go
from right now. I know many people come onto school property for various reasons on the weekends (e.g.
sports, to use the play structures, etc.). I also know that other people frequent our school property in the
evenings, as well, so if you saw or heard anything suspicious, please let me know ASAP. We will do
everything we can to make sure this does not happen again.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Maria

Dr. Maria Breuder

Principal
McGilvra Elementary
October 30, 2018

Good morning, McGilvra Parents and Families,

I’d like to follow up the letter I sent yesterday about the hate messages that were left at McGilvra
over the weekend. I have received many messages from parents in support of our community, but
also with many questions about how Seattle Public Schools is responding to this incident.

First, I’d like to thank our custodian, Mr. Jason Ferguson, for swiftly removing the messages before
students and families arrived at school on Monday. There was an outpouring of offers from our
community to help remove or cover up these images, but Jason took care of it quickly and
efficiently.

Second, I’ve had questions about the specific messages themselves. We are not sharing those
images with the community at large, as we are not giving more power to those words. Our power is
in how we react and how we stand up to the hatred that has come into the community. I will not give
any more power to those hateful words, but will focus on helping our community heal and move
forward.

For our students…..our teachers are spending time this week talking about this situation and
addressing it in developmentally appropriate ways with students. A discussion at 4th/5th grade looks
different than 3rd grade, which also looks different from Kindergarten. As I mentioned yesterday, our
focus with our students is on the opportunity to continue to TEACH. We are teaching our students
about how we treat each other, how we learn more about each other, how we are kind and
compassionate citizens….how to care for our community. We are taking a proactive approach with
educating our children in the ways we know best.

How is SPS responding to this incident? I spent a good portion of yesterday in discussion with many
different groups about the safety and security of our school (including SPS Safety and Security,
Seattle Police Department, and other members of the SPS Central Office staff, as well as members
of the McGilvra PTA Board). As it stands, SPS is committed to installing locked-entry doors to the
building, in addition to adding security and surveillance cameras around the campus. There are
currently 8 security cameras in and around the new lunchroom, and SPS is planning to install an
additional 12 cameras around the remainder of the McGilvra campus. We understand that this
timeline is not immediate, so the PTA is exploring options for surveillance cameras to be brought in
the interim.

We are working on scheduling a meeting for parents to come process through this as a community. I
will let you know just as soon as we have finalized a date for this meeting.

We do believe that the safety and security of our school and community is of utmost importance.
That security has been threatened by the hateful messages that were left on our school grounds, in
conjunction with recent events that have happened across our country. We are committed to doing
everything we can to help restore a safe and inclusive learning environment for our children and
families.
Resources:

• 5 Tips for Talking to Children about Hate Incidents

• Talking to Our Kids About Hate Crimes
• When Hate Crimes Hit Close to Home

Thanks,
Maria

Dr. Maria Breuder

Principal
McGilvra Elementary