A Facebook post calling students from New Haven “thugs” who attend school in Cheshire has caught the attention of many in the town, including the head of the district, who’s now responding.
In a now-deleted post, the person said that their friends have children who attend Cheshire High School, and they’ve heard that the New Haven students “cause trouble, fights, mischief and such things.”
The person went on to say, “this isn’t the Cheshire I remember” and “hopefully we can draw attention to these New Haven thugs in Cheshire and get them out.”
Superintendent Jeff Solan said the comments were “reprehensible” and made him “irate.”
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“It was ripe with misinformation, alleging that our 22 students, who we are honored to have attend our school, cause trouble, fights, mischief and such things,” Solan said in a video message to the school community. “Our students attending from New Haven are vital members of our community, who lead in the classroom, extra-curricular activities and in our school community.”
The students from New Haven are bused in daily through the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Open Choice Program.
“It's designed to improve academic achievement, reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation and give choice around educational opportunities,” said Robin Cecere, who oversees the program. “Students who are in an environment that is diverse, culturally diverse, students from different backgrounds, kids develop better socially. They're more comfortable. They're more successful when they get into sort of the bigger world.”
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In an interview with NBC Connecticut, a few of those students said they sadly were not surprised.
“To hear that from an adult talk about kids that way, it really made me mad,” junior Taniya Cherry said. “My blood was boiling. I was pretty mad because this isn't the first incident that has happened.”
Cherry and her peers said they’ve experienced racism at the school before.
“I've been experiencing racism since my freshman year,” Cherry said.
“We've all experienced multiple forms of racism and microaggressions at this school,” senior Alyssa Underwood said. “This is just very ignorant and very disappointing, that it’s something we still have to deal with as people of color in 2024, and the fact that those derogatory terms were used against kids is very disrespectful and just very not needed.”
The person who made the post was not identified. The superintendent ended his video message by emphasizing that the district will continue to welcome any student into the Cheshire school district.
