Does Ms. van Putten take us all for clueless idiots? This explanation does not pass the laugh test. I am horrified that our local public high school would explain away swastikas in this current climate. Who is going to stand up for reality and for good? Who is going to teach students about the millennia long history of antisemitism, the evil of the Nazis, the tragedy of the Holocaust, the depravity of the Hamas terrorists, and the rampant hate we are seeing today? Apparently not this school.

Apparently after a Jewish kid notified the administration they found the freshman who created the swastica (via surveillance camera) and asked HER to confront him.

Talk about being clueless and having a lack of empathy, especially with the recent turmoil in the Middle East.

If you truly believe that the (recent immigrant) who drew the symbol was naive (sure…) at least use it as a teachable moment to educate him on why this isn’t OK in America.

I’m glad that my kids don’t go to a school run by Ms. Van Putten. Her bio states that she has ‘dedication to equity, social justice, and creative instructional leadership’. I’d say this definitely falls under being creative. Not so sure I agree that she demonstrates any modicum of dedication to social justice or equity.

It’s an embarrassment to the community.

Go Wildcats…

This is a Manji symbol. Swastika and Manji are drawn differently. If you search on the Internet for "swastika vs manji", you can find the difference.

My letter to the district:

Dear Principal Van Patten, Superintendent Leach, and members of the SUHSD Board,

I am writing to express my dismay at the district’s muted response to the swastika graffiti at Woodside High School last week.

Even if the graffiti in question was truly meant to be an image of Japanese Buddhist symbolism seen in popular animé, as claimed by the perpetrator, it is truly disheartening to see you seemingly dismiss the fear, trauma, and hurt of a minority population that is telling you that such imagery is harmful. If symbols or phrases known to be sensitive to other minorities appeared at school, you likely would have issued a more sympathetic and denunciative message and would seek further disciplinary action, or at least hold schoolwide sensitivity sessions.

Jewish people across the world are mourning the loss of 1400 friends and family members, and worrying for the lives of 250 hostages, from the most brutal attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Acts of antisemitism are increasing at an alarming rate, especially at American schools and universities. Some of us are afraid to display our Judaism on our doorsteps or outside our homes, for fear of threats and harassment.

The least the district can do is condemn the use or imagery that further hurts and threatens us.

I urge you to rethink your previous statement and to champion ALL your students’ rights to feel safe and supported at school.

This is insanity. If this person was truly drawing a Buddhist symbol, why the need to draw it on school grounds? If the student was oblivious to what s/he was doing, then WHS should be ashamed of its ineptitude at teaching history. This is a failure of both the social studies department and the disciplinary policies. I have three adult kids who went to WHS and I don’t think this would have been the outcome when Diane Burbank was the principal. Inexcusable WHS!

I am a WHS alumni from the class of 2021. This is discussing that the new WHS administration is so native to believe the lies of high school students. High school students are knowledgeable enough to know what a swastika is and know it has historical context before it was used by the Nazi party and yes that is shown in modern anime. High school students know both these things and know they can use that excuse to get away with this bs and trick boomers who are to insecure to admit they don’t understand younger anime and meme culture and accept it as a valid excuse. These “kids” are smarter than adults give them credit for and are being played like fools. Expelling the perpetrator is the minimum for an incident like this no matter the excuse. Everyone knows what this is and what this meant. I don’t know if the administration is just incompetent to believe this excuse from the kid or if they want to live in denial that antisemitism exists at WHS.