Education

Yearbooks being recalled due to senior quote tied to hate group leader

School administrators say an investigation is underway at a Las Vegas school after its yearbook included a quote from a hate group leader.

File photo of The Meadows School exterior
Scripps News Las Vegas
SMS

A Las Vegas private school is having to recall its yearbooks after publication.

Administrators say they discovered a student used a quote that was tied to a known hate group leader. While the school is investigating, some parents are concerned about what consequences the student may face.

"The school needs to do a better job monitoring what they put on the yearbook," said Tony Huang, a father of a Meadows School senior.

He was shocked when his son told him his yearbook needed to be returned to the school because of a questionable quote used by another student.

A statement released on Friday by the interim head of school, Claude Grubair, and board chair, Matthew Chilton, says, "The senior section of our yearbook includes student-provided quotes. Unfortunately, after publication they found a quote that was submitted and falsely cited as anonymous that was tied to a hate group leader. The Meadows School does not condone hate speech or racism of any kind, we will not allow this quote to remain in a publication that celebrates our students and represents our school."

As a result, administrators have requested the immediate return of all yearbooks to the school so they may correct the oversight and review all other content.

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"You need to think twice before you actually put it out," Huang said.

A spokesperson for The Meadows School, Lauren Walker, says an investigation is underway with the student and their parent to determine the intent behind the use of the quote and what the consequence may be for the student.

Scripps News Las Vegas obtained a letter sent to the principal and member of the board. The letter written by a group of concerned mothers says rather than being expelled or not be allowed to graduate, they believe a justifiable punishment should be given to the student such as a form of an educational exercise.

Huang says The Meadows School truly focuses on the success of students, and he would not want his kids to be anywhere else.

The school says they regret the negative impact this had on the community and on parents like him.

"Everybody makes mistakes from time to time," he said. "And as long as they learn from this lesson, it is all good."

This story was originally published by Abel Garcia at Scripps News Las Vegas.