VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach School Board held its first meeting Tuesday night since racism was discovered among members of the Kempsville High School varsity baseball team, prompting school officials to forfeit the rest of the season.
News 3 first broke the story a couple of weeks ago. We obtained a message Kempsville High School principal Melissa George sent to parents, which said the following, in part:
"After our lengthy investigation after we received allegations of racism on the baseball team earlier in April, we have found that racism, hate speech, and harassment have been an ongoing issue for multiple years."
In a series of videos posted on Facebook, the mother of a player on the team said her son was called racial slurs, including the n-word.
WATCH: Racism, hate speech, harassment evident on Kempsville baseball team, VBCPS says
Virginia Beach mother, Jesse Calevas, spoke at the meeting.
"As leaders and educators we have a moral responsibility to combat interpersonal racism," said Calevas. "This begins with a school's culture that unequivocally condemns racism of all forms. We must foster an environment where every student feels seen, heard and valued."
Virginia Beach
Kempsville families, VBCPS release statements on racial harassment incidents
Dr. Eric Majette, the president of the Virginia Beach NAACP, told us the organization isn't taking this issue lightly.
"I think there is a lot more that has to be done you know by canceling the team and not allowing them to have a season the baseball team and that is out in the public," said Majette. "And it's time to address and not push it under the rug and have programs in place so it won't happen again."
Some of the solutions the NAACP mentioned were enhancing education on racism, improving mental health and holding students accountable
