Recently, there was an incident in the Verdigris Public School system, wherein the lack of a policy regarding hate speech was brought to light. This incident was extremely hurtful to the student, the student’s family, friends and other members of this community.

Many, if not most, Oklahoma public school systems have policies in place regarding hate speech and consequences for violating the same. However, the Verdigris Public School system has no policy regarding the use of hate speech whatsoever.

Our children should not have to be subjected to hate speech in their school, where they come to learn and grow into good stewards of our community. Therefore, we are asking you to support the implementation of a hate speech policy at Verdigris Public Schools and appropriate consequences for violating the same.

The Verdigris Public School board is set to hear this issue on Monday, May 10, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. at the Verdigris Junior High gym. We humbly ask that you attend the meeting and show your support for such a policy. However, we know everyone is busy and may not have the time to appear at the school board meeting. So, if you cannot attend in person, we ask that you show your support by endorsing this petition.

Thank you for your support.