Another symbol of hate — the sixth in five months — was found in the public schools in Summit, NJ, officials said. The swastika was located in a sixth-floor girls bathroom at the district's middle school, and immediately removed.
Reports of swastikas have skyrocketed throughout the New York and New Jersey region, as WNYC reported in January, and are the most common hate crime. But Summit, a well-to-do town in Union County with about 4,000 students in the public schools, seems to be getting hit harder than elsewhere. About two-thirds of the students are white, and there is a notable Jewish population.
The six swastikas were all found in the middle and high schools, and some of the graffiti may have predated this school year.
There have been no arrests connected to any of the incidents, and no perpetrators have been identified. Police Chief Robert K. Weck said his department's juvenile officer is working with Summit school officials and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office on the investigation.
"Because of the location where the symbols are being placed, the school and [Summit Police Department] will also have to rely on student(s) coming forward with information on who might be responsible for these hateful acts," Weck said in an email.
To address the situation administrators have added hall monitors, strengthened adherence to bathroom-use policies and encouraged students to come forward with information, according to June Chang, the district's superintendent.
"We understand the negative impact of these symbols, and have taken a multi-pronged approach to respond to the graffiti that has been found in our schools containing these hateful symbols," Chang said in an email. He added that “identifying the perpetrators has been challenging,” because the swastikas mostly have been found in the single most difficult place in a school to monitor: bathroom stalls.
Plus, he said, the largest swastika was merely the size of a silver dollar.
Chang described "a campaign of education and information" involving parents, students and the community, including ongoing solidarity-themed programs in the schools and a candlelight service at a local synagogue to promote unity. There are also plans in the works to send social studies students to a local Holocaust remembrance exhibit.
"The purpose of these events has been to ensure that the vast majority of our students, staff, and families, who are offended and troubled by the discovery of these symbols, are both informed and heard,” Chang said.
The swastikas have roiled Summit. One parent told WNYC she feared drawing a dreidel on her daughter's lunch bag during Hanukkah. And last year, after school leaders angered parents by failing to immediately inform them about the initial spate of incidents, Superintendent June Chang apologized and pledged to continue to notify the public. School officials also placed temporary restrictions on the use of school bathrooms, scheduled a "Day of Unity and Kindness" and allowed students to hang "No Room For Hate in Summit" posters at the middle school.
"This hateful symbol has no place in our schools or in our communities," said Evan Bernstein, the regional director for the Anti-Defamation League in New York and New Jersey. "We must continue to speak out and condemn this behavior, and we must remain steadfast in our commitment to educating young people about the atrocities of anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. To do otherwise would be contrary to everything that we stand for here in New Jersey."