LATHAM — Forts Ferry Elementary School was vandalized sometime between Friday, Oct. 28 and Sunday, Oct. 30.
According to North Colonie School District Superintendent Joseph Corr, windows were broken and racial slurs and “deplorable images” were drawn on the exterior of the building.
Corr said district crews have cleaned the graffiti and the district is working with police.
“We will work to support those who have been victimized by these actions, and we will work to discover who did this and hold those individuals accountable. Such actions are classified as hate crimes by New York State statute,” Corr said in a statement to parents. “Let me be clear that this behavior is unacceptable at all levels, and such racist and hateful language and actions will not be tolerated.”
In July, Casey Parker, a Black man, became principal at Forts Ferry.
“As a community and as an educational institution, we must join together and denounce this hatred. We cannot and will not shy away from the fact that this act occurred at Forts Ferry where Dr. Parker, a Black man, became principal in July,” Corr said. “We need to recognize the ugliness and pain of this moment and we must, in word and deed, stand up and say racism has no place in our schools.”
