Investigation into alleged racial incident nearly done

In a statement to New Prague Area Schools staff and families, Superintendent Tim Dittberner addressed recent allegations of racial taunts. Due to the allegations the school districts of St. Louis Park and Robbinsdale announced they would not compete with New Prague.

“The last two weeks have been difficult for the St. Louis Park, Robbinsdale and New Prague Area schools and communities,” said Dittberner in the statement. “I have done several media interviews but I want to provide you with an update personally on this serious situation. First and foremost, New Prague Area Schools does not and will not tolerate hate speech and racism in our schools. We need to repair the harm done to students.”

“The investigation of the alleged incident at the girls basketball game is nearing completion, so I will not comment further on that at this time. Upon conclusion of the investigation, a public statement will be released.”

“Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, there are other hate speech incidents that have surfaced in the past week.  While we take all reports of bullying and harassment seriously and follow up by investigating them and taking appropriate action steps according to district policy and state law, we need to be proactive and educate to prevent further incidents. Our high school principal has hosted listening sessions this past week and is heartened by the fact that students and staff are ready to take action and ensure that our schools are a place free of hate speech. The work of listening to our school community will drive our actions moving forward.  I will provide more details on concrete action steps we are taking at the school board meeting on Monday night (Feb. 28).”

“I’m grateful that our community members are people who care about others and the education of their children. This is a tremendous opportunity to make enduring and systemic change across our entire district. I appreciate your partnership in moving our district forward.”