EAST BRUNSWICK – A student discovered anti-Semitic graffiti on the inside of a recreational structure at a township elementary school.
“I was first notified that Friday afternoon near dismissal by the principal [Elizabeth Dunn] who notified me right away,” Superintendent of Schools Victor Valeski said of the June 9 incident reported at the Lawrence Brook Elementary School playground on Sullivan Way. “The first thing we did was take photos of the graffiti, then we called the police, and then we removed the graffiti which required the wood where it was placed to be sanded.”
In March, an anti-Semitic symbol was placed on a desk in a biology lab at Churchill Junior High School and another incident occurred at Lawrence Brook where an anti-Semitic symbol was carved into one of the slides on the playground, according to Valeski.
“We believe that the incident that occurred previously and the recent incident are connected. We are currently still interviewing people,” Valeski said. “In both cases, we notified the parents immediately. They got an alert about this probably before dinnertime. [Dunn] did a follow up with the parents since Monday morning. She also talked to the students to make sure they were OK. I think it was handled very well.”
Currently, the incident is under investigation, according to Lt. Sean Goggins, the East Brunswick Police Department’s public information officer.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
