Manchester schools investigate after video shared of staff member using racial slur
May 23—Manchester school officials are investigating an incident captured on a video clip circulating on social media in which a district staff member can be seen and heard uttering a racial slur.
In an email sent Wednesday to school district parents, Superintendent Jennifer Gillis said the video clip being distributed via social media is a "small part of a longer video" now in the possession of school administrators.
"We have begun an investigation into the incident, are meeting with all who are involved, and will take appropriate next steps upon completion," Gillis said in a statement. "In the meantime, it must be clearly stated that language of this type is totally unacceptable and there is no tolerance for it in our schools.
"We take this matter very seriously and given its nature, this incident must be approached with sensitivity knowing it can have an enormous negative impact on students."
Gillis said because the incident is a personnel matter involving a staff member, "we are not able to share more information at this time."
According to a source with knowledge of the video, the clip involves a staff member at Manchester High School Central.
According to the source, the staff member can be heard using the "N-word" while speaking with a student.
One version of the video shared with the Union Leader shows a staff member saying, "I'm not a (N-word)" in response to being called a "f---ing racist" by someone who appears to be a student.
The shorter clip being circulated on social media appears to be an edited-down version of the longer clip, the source said. Speaking on background, the source said the staff member may have been filmed responding to being called an "N-word" by a student.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who serves as chairman of the city's school board, said he wants to make it "unequivocally clear that our community does not tolerate any form of discrimination."
"The recent incident involving a member of the school staff at Central High School is deeply disturbing and unacceptable," Ruais said in a statement. "We are committed to fostering an environment of respect and inclusion, and actions like these have no place in our schools or city."
Manchester school board Vice Chair Jim O'Connell said he expects the district will "deal with this topic appropriately."
"Our school system is large, it's complex, it's multifaceted and diverse, and we don't accept any intolerance or racial slurs," O'Connell said. "We have a zero-tolerance policy.
"I can't talk that much about this particular incident, because I don't know that much about it. I do know that I was surprised and disappointed that such an incident could occur, but until we know exactly what the details are I want to refrain from characterizing it."
District response
Gillis said in an email the district is taking specific steps to create "a safe space for students to process and, if they wish, to discuss the incident."
The safe spaces will be led by Amadou Hamady, a district social worker who oversees the Welcome Center at Central — a safe, quiet space for English Language Learner students and their families to get access to resources needed to succeed in school and life.
"Regardless of how or why this moment occurred, we must recognize that this incident underscores the work we still need to do to provide a school environment that is healthy and safe," Gillis said in an email.
Manchester schools recently contracted with Great School Partnerships, a national nonprofit organization specializing in diversity training and programs to promote and improve inclusion and equity.
The video marks the second incident with racial undertones in a Manchester high school in the past two years.
In October 2022, a Trinity High School student's poster joking about slavery resulted in the cancellation of sports games after a photo of the poster appeared on local social media and the Catholic school received threats.
A photo posted to social media showed a boy and a girl standing behind a handwritten sign with a variation of the sentence, "If I was Black I would be picking cotton but I'm White so I'm picking you for homecoming."
