PRIOR LAKE, Minn. — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on KARE 11 on Nov. 11, 2021.
Just weeks after students walked out of Prior Lake High School to support a fellow classmate targeted by a racist video, the district announced it's investigating another clip circulating on social media.
School Principal John Bezek confirmed in a letter to families Friday that he was aware of the new racist video, which involved PLHS students and students from another district.
In the video, which was posted on Instagram, several teenagers are heard using the N-word.
Bezek said the school is investigating and took "swift and appropriate action with the students involved."
You can read the full letter from Principal Bezek below:
Prior Lake High School families,
This week another racist video on social media involving PLHS students, and students from another school district, was reported to us. As soon as the video was brought to our attention, we launched an investigation and we took swift and appropriate action with the students involved.
Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools will not tolerate racism or hate speech. We believe everyone in our schools needs to be accountable for their words and actions. Therefore, we will continue to take action when we hear racial slurs or hate speech, or when an incident is brought to our attention.
As you know, this week we met with all PLHS students to take active steps to promote conversations about the culture of our school and help ensure a safe learning environment. We will continue to support our students, listen to them, and help them implement their ideas to help us drive change in our school.
As a reminder, we have a confidential reporting system available where anyone can report dangerous or potentially harmful situations. https://docs.google.com/a/plsas.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfKBiqJjtezbxsEsNwj9yKiO0ZkUJyvMtV_cgkbJsySYN6EQA/viewform?c=0&w=1
Thank you to those who reported the video to us. It will take all of us working together to bring the positive changes needed to continue to ensure we have safe learning environments for all of our students.
Sincerely,
John Bezek.
Back on Nov. 11, Prior Lake High School students rallied in support of 14-year-old freshman Nya Sigin, who was the main target of another viral video that showed a student using several racial slurs and encouraging suicide.
Adult activists from the community, Prior Lake alumni, parents, a few teachers, St. Louis Park students, and others showed up in support of the Sigins.
On Nov. 22, Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Teri Staloch confirmed that the student seen in the video targeting Sigin was "no longer enrolled" in the district.