Racist Graffiti Discovered In Separate Incidents At San Ramon School

SAN RAMON (CBS SF) -- Police and school district officials in San Ramon were investigating separate cases of racist graffiti discovered at a high school within the last week.

The graffiti was found inside restrooms at California High School in San Ramon. The San Ramon Valley Unified School District said in one case, the words "white" and "colored" were written above different toilets.

Days prior, a racial slur directed at African Americans was scrawled inside another restroom. In that case, a Cal High student admitted to being the person responsible, according district spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich. The student was to face "appropriate school disciplinary action," she said.

African Americans make up only 2.6 percent out of the 2,667 students at Cal High, according to the latest data from the California Department of Education. District-wide, the ratio is only 1.7 percent.

The incidents have left some students unsettled.

"I knew there was racism, I just never thought it would occur out here," said student Skyler Robinson. "I thought we were always welcomed from the school, but it definitely made me feel and our whole group feel unwelcome and kind of unsafe."

Principal Sarah Cranford sent a letter to parents on Monday reporting the incidents, saying the school strives to provide a culturally-responsive school environment where all students feel safe, and that any harassment on campus would not be tolerated.

The school district said it would look for opportunities to reinforce a message of unity in the coming days.

"The principal is meeting with groups to talk about what we can do moving forward," said Graswich. "This is homecoming week this week, so one of the things that they're looking at is can they do something related to unity through one of the events."

On Monday morning, students at arrived at a North Bay elementary school for Spanish-language children to find it vandalized with pro Donald Trump graffiti and an anti-immigrant message echoing one of Trump's key campaign promises.

That case is also under investigation by authorities.