Message from the UM Superintendent
January 10th, 2023
January 10, 2023
Dear Upper Moreland Parents and Community Members:
This message serves as an update to the incident which occurred in our high school on December 20, 2022. On that evening, the visiting Boys’ Basketball Team from Cheltenham School District found racist language and inappropriate images on the dry erase board in the visiting team’s locker room. This was reported to our administration who conducted a thorough investigation. The findings of this investigation showed no factual evidence suggesting that either our Boys’ or Girls’ Basketball Teams wrote the racist language and inappropriate images on the dry erase board. Because the person(s) responsible for the writing on the board have not been determined yet, we will continue our investigation and follow any leads.
The student-athletes, coaches, staff, and administration are deeply troubled, upset, and embarrassed by this event, and we want to take steps to heal and grow. We, like many of you, want Upper Moreland to be an equitable and inclusive school district and community where all feel safe and know that we embrace and welcome the diversity of our community.
As a district, we are committed to doing better. In our recently approved Comprehensive Plan, we included a goal focused on improving the culture and climate in our schools. The incident on December 20th underscores the importance of this work as part of our Comprehensive Plan. Engaging in work to improve culture and climate and to increase belongingness within our schools is layered and takes time.
I take this opportunity to share some of the steps we are taking as a district to do better. These steps are a starting point of the ongoing work we must do.
We are meeting with high school student leadership groups to gather their feedback about what they need to heal and to have a voice in the steps we need to take.
Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee will engage in work focused on three key areas: Research and Policy, Community Engagement and Events, and Professional Development and Resources.
We are exploring various outside organizations who can work with us to heal and help us grow in our ability to promote equity, inclusion, and belonging for all students across our district.
We continue our focus on strengthening our culture and climate through fostering relationships with students, articulating and modeling clear expectations in our schools, and capitalizing on opportunities to help students learn from mistakes while holding them accountable.
As superintendent, I ask for your support. Our Upper Moreland community values the diversity which makes us who we are. To prepare our students for success in a complex and interdependent world in which they may encounter language and incidents that are hurtful, we need to work together to help them learn, grow, and thrive.
Sue Elliott
Superintendent of Schools