TONTOGANY, Ohio —
An Otsego Local Schools parent is demanding answers after discovering a racial slur written on a bathroom stall.
"Upon checking the handicap stall door is when I noticed the racist graffiti," Sierra Cousino said.
Cousino also works as a custodian at the high school. She said she noticed the slur when she went into the bathroom at Otsego High School to clean it.
"My stomach just dropped, not because I was hurt or whatever. It was just sheer disappointment," she said.
Cousino reported the graffiti the next day.
In an email response to Cousino, superintendent Kevin O'Shea called the graffiti "ridiculous and unacceptable" and said school leaders would investigate immediately.
They stuck to their word and told Cousino in a later email that not only did they narrow down their search for suspects, but also discovered more racist graffiti.
Cousino said there have been racial slurs written on bathroom stalls every week for the past three weeks. She said she hasn't received an update since then.
Cousino isn't interested in who did it and isn't trying to "out" the student or students involved.
Instead, she just wants the school to send a message to the Otsego community, stating they don't tolerate racism.
"I don't think there's a racist running rampant at Otsego," Cousino said. "I think there are very uneducated people who need to understand the broad scope of this word."
Cousino said she was disappointed when she saw an email sent out to the Otsego community addressing student conduct at football games, but not about the racist graffiti.
Here's what part of the email said:
It is important that we...uphold the standards of behavior that reflect the values of our school and community. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in inappropriate conduct within the student section during our football games. This includes instances of students throwing objects, tossing baking flour, playing inappropriate music and using offensive language.
The email goes on to say that staff reiterated expectations to students in person during study hall periods.
"My 15-year-old was actually blown away himself because he was like 'Wait, what? They can take time to do that, but can't address this other stuff?' And I – what do I say?" Cousino said.
In a statement to WTOL 11, a representative for Otsego Local Schools wrote, "The district is looking into the incident. We do not tolerate any incidents involving derogatory language and cannot comment on an active investigation."