Lunenburg forfeits final games in wake of racist graffiti; superintendent says this wasn't the first inciden
Lunenburg forfeits final games in wake of racist graffiti; superintendent says this wasn't the first inciden, Superintendent of Schools Loxi Jo Calmes confirmed during a press conference Monday evening that an incident with a 13-year-old student being targeted because of his race was not the first time members of the varsity and junior-varsity teams have been accused of using the N word in reference to black students.
Calmes, flanked by Board of Selectmen Chairman Tom Alonzo, School Committee Chairman Greg Berthiaume and Town Manager Kerry Speidel at the press conference at the Public Safety Facility, read from a prepared statement, saying she is saddened by recent events.
As a result of the multiple threats, the most recent being racist graffiti scrawled on the home of a biracial eighth-grader, all remaining football games, including the annual Thanksgiving game against St. Bernard's, have been forfeited by the team. The decision was made by Calmes.
The eighth-grader, Isaac Phillips, plays on the freshman team. His mother is white, and his father is black.
Isaac's mother, Andrea Brazier, said her son has been tormented at school because of the color of his skin. His football cleats were stolen, had water put in them and were dumped in the trash, she said.
Also, the tire to his bike was slashed while he was at school, she said.
But things went too far when the family woke up Friday morning to see the phrase "Knights don't need n******" spray-painted on the foundation of their Chase Road home. Lunenburg High School's nickname is the Blue Knights.
Phillips has expressed a strong interest in transferring schools, and when his parents went to meet with Calmes on Monday morning, they found out the shocking news: It's not the first time the N word has been used in reference to other football players of color.
Calmes said the varsity team hosted Worcester South in Lunenburg on Nov. 1, and a referee allegedly heard a Lunenburg player use the racial comment.
The junior-varsity team traveled to Worcester on Nov. 4 for its own contest, which was suspended midgame because referees said they heard similar language and a fight broke out on the field.
Brazier, who was at the junior-varsity game Nov. 4 with her son, said the team and its fan had to be escorted off the field to waiting buses because of physical threats that were made.
She said Phillips has been the target of repeated hazing throughout the year because he is an eighth-grader playing on the freshman team and has been given a chance to play on the JV team.
She said Calmes admitted during a meeting between the two of them Monday morning, called to discuss her son's future in the district, that Calmes' office is investigating the claims.
"From day one, the principal, the vice principal and the superintendent keep telling us they've never had this issue," Brazier said. "They admitted to us today they have been dealing with emails back and forth with those two games. The superintendent came to our house last night to let us know that we should be looking outside of football, and it may not be a player.
"They've known two weeks today ... that one of our players was accused of using the word in the game," she added. "I wasn't thrilled with that. It seems like they're trying to get us away from the issue, saying it's (not) a football issue."
Brazier said she got so angry with the turn of events Monday morning that she stormed out of the meeting with Calmes. A group of reporters was waiting outside the school, she said, and attempted to talk to her as she left, but school administrators called the police, who asked the media to leave the premises.
Brazier said she can't keep Phillips out of school forever, but he is dead-set against going back to Lunenburg, she said.
Because of the heated discussion Monday, she said nothing was accomplished, and she has no idea where she can send her son now.
"Anything you say to her, I feel like she's been lying to me since last week," she said of Calmes. "I don't intend to talk to her because she keeps saying they did everything they could before with the bike issue and the cleats issue. They could have squashed the issue right then and there. I can't imagine someone even coming forward at this point."
Brazier said the threats against her son began in September, about a month after school started. She immediately reported them to the coaches after practice, and the following morning, she alerted the high-school principal.
The principal reviewed surveillance footage from the parking lot, but because the camera is not stationary, it did not pick up the culprits.
When her house was vandalized Friday, Brazier said she immediately called the police, who, in turn, alerted Calmes.
Calmes read only from a prepared statement Monday afternoon, refusing to take questions from nearly a dozen media outlets in the room. She walked away from the podium, ignoring all questions before saying softly that she had no intention of answering them.
"The educators and coaches of Lunenburg value diversity, and we care deeply about all of our students," she said, reading from the statement. "We have no tolerance for racism in any form, and we do everything we can to eliminate it from our schools and our community."
Calmes said the entire football coaching staff and team were in attendance at Sunday night's anti-bullying vigil held at the town's gazebo, and the district has sought the help of the Anti-Defamation League to assist in delivering additional educational programs to teach students tolerance.
Brazier said she was baffled when Calmes called her Sunday asking Phillips to meet the rest of the team at the high school wearing his jersey so the team could walk to the anti-bullying vigil together.
"They wanted him to walk in with the group as a team with his jersey on," she said. "I know he won't do that. I think everything they're doing is all for show. Why would you do that? They know (the culprit is) a football player. It just didn't make sense to me."
Brazier was not at Monday night's press conference and did not return calls seeking comment on Calmes' decision to forfeit the remainder of the games.
While she is sympathetic to the players who won't get to play on Thanksgiving Eve, she said the situation escalated far too quickly and not enough was done to stop it before things got out of hand.
"The answer isn't to cover it up," she said. "I can't tell you how many times they said this has never happened before. I guess they thought I was overreacting. I'm not sure how they aren't connecting those dots. They just think it's not a football player or they don't want to think it is."
The statement read by Calmes said her office is still looking into the Worcester allegations.
"The Lunenburg Public Schools continues to investigate allegations related to racial slurs by Lunenburg players directed towards Worcester South players," she said.
Gov. Deval Patrick has reached out to the family, offering his deepest sympathies.
Asked to respond to the graffiti incident, Patrick said he had spoken with Calmes and reached out to the boy's family.
"It's disgusting, and I don't believe it's who the people of Lunenburg are," Patrick said.
The Lunenburg Police Department is still investigating the graffiti incident. Representatives from the state police and FBI were on hand at Monday's press conference and will be working the case with local authorities.
Calmes, flanked by Board of Selectmen Chairman Tom Alonzo, School Committee Chairman Greg Berthiaume and Town Manager Kerry Speidel at the press conference at the Public Safety Facility, read from a prepared statement, saying she is saddened by recent events.
As a result of the multiple threats, the most recent being racist graffiti scrawled on the home of a biracial eighth-grader, all remaining football games, including the annual Thanksgiving game against St. Bernard's, have been forfeited by the team. The decision was made by Calmes.
The eighth-grader, Isaac Phillips, plays on the freshman team. His mother is white, and his father is black.
Isaac's mother, Andrea Brazier, said her son has been tormented at school because of the color of his skin. His football cleats were stolen, had water put in them and were dumped in the trash, she said.
Also, the tire to his bike was slashed while he was at school, she said.
But things went too far when the family woke up Friday morning to see the phrase "Knights don't need n******" spray-painted on the foundation of their Chase Road home. Lunenburg High School's nickname is the Blue Knights.
Phillips has expressed a strong interest in transferring schools, and when his parents went to meet with Calmes on Monday morning, they found out the shocking news: It's not the first time the N word has been used in reference to other football players of color.
Calmes said the varsity team hosted Worcester South in Lunenburg on Nov. 1, and a referee allegedly heard a Lunenburg player use the racial comment.
The junior-varsity team traveled to Worcester on Nov. 4 for its own contest, which was suspended midgame because referees said they heard similar language and a fight broke out on the field.
Brazier, who was at the junior-varsity game Nov. 4 with her son, said the team and its fan had to be escorted off the field to waiting buses because of physical threats that were made.
She said Phillips has been the target of repeated hazing throughout the year because he is an eighth-grader playing on the freshman team and has been given a chance to play on the JV team.
She said Calmes admitted during a meeting between the two of them Monday morning, called to discuss her son's future in the district, that Calmes' office is investigating the claims.
"From day one, the principal, the vice principal and the superintendent keep telling us they've never had this issue," Brazier said. "They admitted to us today they have been dealing with emails back and forth with those two games. The superintendent came to our house last night to let us know that we should be looking outside of football, and it may not be a player.
"They've known two weeks today ... that one of our players was accused of using the word in the game," she added. "I wasn't thrilled with that. It seems like they're trying to get us away from the issue, saying it's (not) a football issue."
Brazier said she got so angry with the turn of events Monday morning that she stormed out of the meeting with Calmes. A group of reporters was waiting outside the school, she said, and attempted to talk to her as she left, but school administrators called the police, who asked the media to leave the premises.
Brazier said she can't keep Phillips out of school forever, but he is dead-set against going back to Lunenburg, she said.
Because of the heated discussion Monday, she said nothing was accomplished, and she has no idea where she can send her son now.
"Anything you say to her, I feel like she's been lying to me since last week," she said of Calmes. "I don't intend to talk to her because she keeps saying they did everything they could before with the bike issue and the cleats issue. They could have squashed the issue right then and there. I can't imagine someone even coming forward at this point."
Brazier said the threats against her son began in September, about a month after school started. She immediately reported them to the coaches after practice, and the following morning, she alerted the high-school principal.
The principal reviewed surveillance footage from the parking lot, but because the camera is not stationary, it did not pick up the culprits.
When her house was vandalized Friday, Brazier said she immediately called the police, who, in turn, alerted Calmes.
Calmes read only from a prepared statement Monday afternoon, refusing to take questions from nearly a dozen media outlets in the room. She walked away from the podium, ignoring all questions before saying softly that she had no intention of answering them.
"The educators and coaches of Lunenburg value diversity, and we care deeply about all of our students," she said, reading from the statement. "We have no tolerance for racism in any form, and we do everything we can to eliminate it from our schools and our community."
Calmes said the entire football coaching staff and team were in attendance at Sunday night's anti-bullying vigil held at the town's gazebo, and the district has sought the help of the Anti-Defamation League to assist in delivering additional educational programs to teach students tolerance.
Brazier said she was baffled when Calmes called her Sunday asking Phillips to meet the rest of the team at the high school wearing his jersey so the team could walk to the anti-bullying vigil together.
"They wanted him to walk in with the group as a team with his jersey on," she said. "I know he won't do that. I think everything they're doing is all for show. Why would you do that? They know (the culprit is) a football player. It just didn't make sense to me."
Brazier was not at Monday night's press conference and did not return calls seeking comment on Calmes' decision to forfeit the remainder of the games.
While she is sympathetic to the players who won't get to play on Thanksgiving Eve, she said the situation escalated far too quickly and not enough was done to stop it before things got out of hand.
"The answer isn't to cover it up," she said. "I can't tell you how many times they said this has never happened before. I guess they thought I was overreacting. I'm not sure how they aren't connecting those dots. They just think it's not a football player or they don't want to think it is."
The statement read by Calmes said her office is still looking into the Worcester allegations.
"The Lunenburg Public Schools continues to investigate allegations related to racial slurs by Lunenburg players directed towards Worcester South players," she said.
Gov. Deval Patrick has reached out to the family, offering his deepest sympathies.
Asked to respond to the graffiti incident, Patrick said he had spoken with Calmes and reached out to the boy's family.
"It's disgusting, and I don't believe it's who the people of Lunenburg are," Patrick said.
The Lunenburg Police Department is still investigating the graffiti incident. Representatives from the state police and FBI were on hand at Monday's press conference and will be working the case with local authorities.
