Some students and community members in Morgan Hill are calling attention to racist slurs they say were written in a high school yearbook. The school district now says it's investigating.
Seniors at Ann Sabrato High School are preparing to walk the stage at graduation on Friday. But some tell us, they are also spending this week outraged over what was written in their peers' yearbooks.
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WATCH HEREOne Ann Sabrato High student, who didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation, told NBC Bay Area that she saw a friend's open yearbook at school last week and was shocked by what she found. On the yearbook page, she said, were several entries where individuals signed the yearbook using the N-word.
This student took a photo of the yearbook page, and in that photo, several other slurs are also visible, as is a drawing of a swastika. The student told NBC Bay Area that she and her friends were outraged and that one of the students posted the photo of the yearbook page on Instagram.
This student tells us that both she and her friend who posted the photo on Instagram were called in to be interviewed by the school about what happened and asked to write a reflection on why they did what they did. She said that her parents were also notified about what happened.
In a statement sent Thursday night, a spokesperson for Morgan Hill Unified School District said:
"The District is investigating the allegations. Morgan Hill Unified School District does not tolerate hate speech or the use of racial slurs in any form. We are addressing the matter in accordance with district policies, including restorative practices, and are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We remain committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all students."
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A woman who asked only to be identified by her first name, Jess, told NBC Bay Area that her sister attends Ann Sobrato High and was also upset to hear about this incident. Jess said that her sister is friends with the student who took the photo and posted it on social media.
"When I heard that this had happened, I was completely appalled," Jess said. "It seemed like people were writing this in each other’s yearbooks as some sort of joke, but it's something that should absolutely be taken seriously."
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SIGN UP Jess, community members and other students are asking the district to hold those who wrote the offensive words in the yearbook accountable.
"It doesn’t stay harmless, it grows and it becomes normalized and that’s not ok," Jess said.
Community members said the recent incident is concerning in light of other local incidents, like a swastika flag hung on the 101 overpass earlier in the year.
