Last week, a racist message was found scrawled on one of the columns supporting the solar panel array at Amy Imai Elementary School, the latest in a string of vandalism incidents at local schools.

The graffiti, which included the N-word, was discovered on Monday, Feb. 7, and no perpetrator has been identified, school spokesperson Shelly Hausman said.

Hausman estimated that there have been four incidents of property destruction at Imai within the past two years, most of which she said were racist in nature. That includes a case in 2020 where someone spray painted a message that included the N-word on a classroom at Imai, which at the time was called Huff Elementary School.

The school was renamed last year after the racist and anti-immigrant views of the school's original namesake, Frank Huff, came to light.

Other schools in the Mountain View Whisman School District have also been hit with offensive graffiti. Antisemitic messages were found at Bubb and Monta Loma elementary schools last fall.

At a school board meeting last week, Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph condemned the recent vandalism at Imai, noting that it occurred during Black History Month and Lunar New Year celebrations. He added that the school was renamed after Amy Imai in part to honor the contributions of Asian Americans in Mountain View.

According to Rudolph, the district has seen repeated incidents of vandalism on school campuses targeting different groups.

"Regardless of who the group is, the fundamental thing that we should be talking about is making sure that everybody feels welcome," Rudolph said.

The district reported the recent graffiti to the Anti-Defamation League and is working on speeding up the process to install security cameras and automatic locks at Imai, he said. The district is [ https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2022/01/21/mountain-view-whisman-approved-policies-governing-school-security-cameras planning to install surveillance cameras and other security measures on school campuses using Measure T bond funds.

Rudolph also urged parents to proactively speak with their children about why the use of offensive language is not okay and said that adults should model inclusive behavior for kids.

"I would hope that every single member of our community … uses this as an opportunity to say that this is not a place where hate speech should be welcomed," Rudolph said.