Early on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 27, Principal Cesar Morales received a call that, between the time of Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning, someone had defaced school property by writing on the main sign at the crossing of Cannon and College in bright, red graffiti.

An unidentified person spray painted the message “f*** bobcats” on the front of the main sign as well as the ‘N-word’ on the back side. A third item was found on the back, but it was unclear what it said according to Morales. Sage Creek has dealt with graffiti, vandalism and hate speech in the past.

“We put our position on hate speech on this campus very clearly as ‘it’s not accepted, and it’s not what we stand for,’” Morales said, “It doesn’t belong on or near our campus.”

As of now, there are no leads on who did it, but the Carlsbad police department is aware of the situation.

Morales says the school is fortunate for the quick response of the school district maintenance, who responded and got it removed before the school week started.

The sign was vandalized before the week of Hoopcoming, Sage Creek’s version of homecoming, and the week of Carlsbad Unified’s Great Kindness Challenge, a week founded by the organization Kids for Peace, meant to “create a culture of kindness.”

Related Stories

Morales Announces His Departure From Sage Creek

Angst Opens Discussion of Mental Health On Campus

Senior Mara Waynick, who reported the graffiti to the non-emergency police line in Carlsbad, helped to cover the graffiti with tape and cardboard so people in the community would not “have to see [the graffiti or] have to explain it to their kids.” She also got to see the initial reactions of Sage Creek students on social media.

“It’s just disappointing that someone would choose to [graffiti the sign]. At the end of the day, we don’t know who did it, so we can’t make any assumptions. … I am kind of also disappointed in some people at this school for blaming the whole [Carlsbad High School],” Waynick said.

On a final note, Morales emphasized the importance of the self-accountability or respect involved in policing these activities.

“The call to action is this: This is our house. We own this thing together. We’re responsible for it together. Let’s make sure that each and every one of our students understands that graffiti, hate, hate words, hate messages, hate behaviors, they don’t belong here.”