The president and vice president of the Cultural Diversity Club at Pleasant Valley High School addressed the school board last week after students made a racist video and posted it to social media.

On Nov. 7, Superintendent Dave Piperato notified teachers and staff of a video that had made its way to social media.

“I regret to report that two PVHS students recently made, and posted to social media, a video that is blatantly racist, reprehensible and contrary to our school district’s mission,” Piperato wrote. “Thanks to timely information provided by current and former students, and a quick and thorough investigation conducted by our high school administrative team, we were able to identify the students responsible.”

Piperato said the students were remorseful and no details on the discipline will be made public.

“As you would expect, the students responsible will be held accountable, but I felt it necessary to send a message to all staff reinforcing our values and expectations,” Piperato said.

Citing the tensions at the school over the incident, club President Najja Francis said, “We want to thank our administration for how quickly things were taken care of. But there are still incidents taking place, and while we appreciate what was done, we are concerned that someone might just snap.”

Vice President Zahnia Richardson expressed her gratitude as well, but also her concern.

“But this is 2017 and these thing shouldn’t be happening,” Richardson said.

Piperato was disappointed to hear of other incidents taking place.

“We hear you. We support you,” Piperato told the student and the board. “This is a wake-up call and we are not going to ignore it, we are not going to sweep it under the rug.”

Piperato encouraged Francis and Richardson to help get the message out that students need to continue to talk it out, rather than to lash out. He said he hoped that the quick reaction by the administration was proof that the district would not tolerate hate speech or racially motivated actions.

“It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to confront bigoted behavior, report it immediately, and protect all members of our community,” Piperato told staff in his email. “Hateful words divide us, demonstrate a lack of understanding, and promote ignorance. That is not who we are, and that is not what we do.”

He concluded his discussion with the students by reassuring them.

“You have put great faith in us,” he said. “We are not going to disappoint you.”