After discovering two disturbing social media posts by AWHS students containing violent imagery and hate speech, the school administration now confronts the aftermath with deeper investigation.

On Thursday, Dec. 9, at around six o’clock, AWHS Interim Principal LaSandra White emailed the Tamalpais Unified High School District (TUHSD) community about the posts. 

“The first incident involved an AWHS student pictured with a firearm and included the words ‘No one go to school tomorrow,’” White wrote in the email. 

White also mentioned that the photo, which was originally posted in September, was likely not intended as a threat.

Addressing the second post, the email read, “The second incident involved an AWHS student pictured with hate speech towards students and staff. More specifically, the post used hateful language directed at two specific staff members, Black people, and LGBTQ+ persons.”

In an intercom announcement to the entire school during second period on Friday, Dec. 10, White once again shared the news of the posts with students and teachers on campus.

“Threats of violence, hate-motivated behaviors, and prejudice that target even one person on campus or in our community are harmful to us all, and they go against what we stand for and demonstrate as a school where we try to ensure an inclusive, supportive, and safe environment for everyone,” White said.

On Monday, Dec. 6, an AWHS student saw a post on a Snapchat story with racist and homophobic slurs, as well as hateful language directed toward two AWHS teachers. The student, along with one of their peers, reported the post to the administration.

“[The student] showed me a screenshot of a Snapchat of him [the student responsible for the post] saying many slurs against Black people, against the LGBTQ community,” said the student who first saw the post, who would like to remain anonymous.

That was one of the two posts mentioned in the email and announcement, which also used cruel language mentioning two staff members.

“I reported [the post] three days ago to Ms. LaSandra White, the principal, who then had a conference with me and [the other student who reported the post],” the student said.

Hate speech can widely affect communities. In affluent areas like Marin, the student feels that residents often remain sheltered from obvious acts of hate.

“I felt very overwhelmed with feelings. I felt very sad, because we live in such a community that I knew that there was racism, and I knew that there was homophobia, but I didn’t think it was this blatant,” the student said.

In a follow-up email sent by White to the community this afternoon, she provided another update to the situation detailing that law enforcement is now involved.

“I am following up to let our families know that law enforcement was on campus for a brief period of time today as part of our collaboration in our ongoing investigation and as partners in ensuring our campus is safe for all students and staff members,” the email read.

Currently, the administration is still conducting their investigation on the two social media posts.