County schedules forums about hate incidents in schools

The Orange County Human Relations Commission is joining the county Department of Education in presenting two forums this month exploring the impact of hate incidents on schools, students and communities.

The first forum will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Department of Education headquarters at 200 Kalmus Drive in Costa Mesa and will focus on discussions by parents and students on their experiences with bias and hate on school campuses. Information gathered from the meeting will help inform the second gathering — meant for teachers, counselors and school administrators — at 8 a.m. Jan. 22, also at the department office.

The county says the goal of the forums is to help establish “safer and connected campuses in the school community.”

The effort follows the release of the Human Relations Commission’s 2018 Hate Crimes Report, which indicated a 12% increase in reported hate crimes in Orange County, compared with 2017. The report said a total of 165 hate incidents were reported in 2018, a 37% increase from the 2017 Hate Crimes Report, punctuating a continuing growth trend since 2015.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District was rocked in March when photos surfaced on social media from an off-campus party in Costa Mesa where students from local high schools were seen doing Nazi salutes over a swastika made of red plastic cups. The incident led to several community forums and the formation of the district’s Human Relations Task Force.

Marina High School in Huntington Beach was embroiled in controversy in October over signs with racial overtones at a football game between Marina and Segerstrom High School. Marina also made headlines in April after a student petition requesting permission to use the n-word was circulated on campus.

In May, students from Newport Harbor High School reportedly were involved in “overtly racist” messages in a private Instagram group chat.

Similar incidents involving high school students were reported elsewhere in the county last year.

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