In an emailed letter to parents and students of Ridgefield High School, Principal Stacey Gross said such acts are a blow to the school’s striving to be inclusive.

“I know that you understand that these acts, and similar ones toward any group, attempt to weaken our conscience, poison our spirit, and destroy the freedom of all of us. They are actions intended to demean and diminish members of our community, the people that we live side by side with every day of the school year. That type of behavior does not represent the type of school that we strive to be — a school where there are no second-class citizens, all are free to come and enjoy their day, and every student and staff member receives the benefits of civility and human kindness,” she wrote in the letter that was published in part by the Ridgefield Press.

“I know that you join with me in saying, ‘We will not allow our school to become a platform for hatred and intolerance of any group.  Furthermore, we will not be bystanders to humiliation, and we will not be silent to the suffering of others,” she also wrote.