The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Consequences and lessons
By Mark Reaman
The Gunnison Watershed School District is still addressing the vandalism that took place on the new turf field at the Crested Butte Community School.
Two 16-year-old boys, one from the Crested Bute area and a student at CBCS, the other a Durango resident, will be held accountable for etching a penis and swastika into the gravel before the turf was laid down. The incident took place the evening of August 2 and was captured on a construction site video camera. The parents of the kids accompanied the boys to the Crested Butte marshal’s office to face the consequences. They will face charges of criminal mischief and trespassing in juvenile court.
District superintendent Leslie Nichols did not respond to late questions sent last Wednesday, but did respond to the questions from the Crested Butte News this week.
She said while the initial damage was thought to be extensive, it turned out to be somewhat minor at about $300. She said the CBCS student involved in the vandalism will start the school year with an out of school suspension that is the maximum consequence for a non-violent offense.
“District students who engage in willful destruction or defacing of school property face suspension in conjunction with consequences to fix and pay for the damage that occurred,” she explained. “When the vandalism includes offensive, inflammatory or hurtful words or imagery, the consequences become more severe. We work to ensure safety and restore trust at school by focusing on education about why hateful images are offensive and not a joke; by showing the history and impact of such images on people, and when possible, by hearing stories from people who are harmed by such images. This restorative process to repair harm takes time, is multifaceted and is complex.”
Nichols said the district holds students responsible for their actions with immediate consequences, “and we hold them accountable by having them engage in critical thinking to find actions that help repair the harm done and prevent the behaviors from happening again. Our students do things they shouldn’t do. They do things they have been taught are wrong. They behave this way because they are growing and learning and testing boundaries, and we are here to meet these behaviors head on with consequences and with the more difficult work of reflection, ownership and accountability to folks who were harmed and to the damage done to our school and broader community.”
Nichols said her team requested consideration of charges for a hate crime, but learned that this incident does not meet those statutory requirements as it was not speech targeted at a particular individual. “We will work closely with staff at Juvenile Diversion in their process,” she said. “The process at school includes the immediate, serious consequences of suspension and paying repair costs, followed by close work with students, families and our school community to do as much as possible to repair the emotional harm that has occurred.”
As for the second boy involved, Nichols said law enforcement follows up with the Durango student and family, and not the school district.
