Dear Harford County Public School Board,

I’m a former resident, and I can’t say I was surprised when I read about the the incident at Bel Air High, in which students spelled out a racial slur and took a photo in a classroom on school property.

It reminded me of when I was a sophomore at North Harford High School in the early to mid-2000’s, when several graduating seniors hung a black dummy from the flagpole as their senior prank — a brutal display of hatred and bigotry that was met by complete silence by the NHHS administration and the Harford County Public School system. No students were held accountable, and there was no discussion with the student population explaining the gravity of that flagpole display, nor any moves made to comfort the students of color in the building who were targeted.

This instance is different, yes, as there was a move toward accountability.

I was surprised about that, honestly.

The school’s response was to suspend the offending students, for only nine days. While it was something of a symbolic gesture at best, it was a tiny step forward from the racial incident that happened at my school so long ago. I don’t think it’s an adequate punishment, though. Rather, I think that these kids will only understand the gravity of their offense if the punishment for it escalates with its severity.

But I’m not intending to split hairs about how we should punish these students. Rather, I urge you to take direct action in engaging the student population in dialogue about the racial history of the country, so they can appreciate the malevolence and pain of the N-word.

Most importantly, you need to offer support and counseling for the students of color at Bel Air High School, who have to contend with seeing this event play out. What will you do to comfort them, to ensure them that they feel welcome and like they belong here? What ACTION will you take to proactively change the social climate and discussion around race in our schools?

I call upon the Board to implement a clearly defined plan of action for not only the eradication of racial bullying, but a proactive approach to incorporating racial equality and justice education into the curriculum and culture of HCPS. These curriculum resources exist, and must be aggressively implemented, beyond what is currently being done in terms of diversity education.

Harford County Public School system needs to do better.

Respectfully,
Tim Kuhn