Racist and antisemitic graffiti was found in one of Lexington High School’s boys’ bathrooms on Sept. 2, the first day of school, Principal Andrew Baker wrote to parents last week. 

Specifically, three students found the N-word and a Nazi hakenkreuz, which is commonly referred to as a ‘swastika’ due to historic mistranslation, on the wall of a stall. Students reported the graffiti to the dean, Baker wrote. 

“This content is deplorable and we denounce it in the strongest terms,” Baker wrote to LHS families. “This hateful speech and symbolism is vile and will not be tolerated at Lexington High School.”

The district is “fully investigating this issue,” Lexington Public Schools Superintendent Julie Hackett told the Observer. Baker wrote that if the person who graffitied the bathroom wall is found, they will “face disciplinary action, along with mandatory education about the history, meaning, and impact of that word and that symbol.” He encouraged students who have information on who the responsible individual is to tell a trusted adult. 

In the meantime, Baker will have students create artwork and affirmations that reflect LPS’s ‘We All Belong’ core value during an extended homeroom time block on Sept. 10, he wrote. 

“This won’t erase the harm that was done, but it will shape the messages and symbols we see as we walk through our hallways and into our classrooms,” Baker wrote. 

Similar graffiti was found on the walls of a boys’ bathroom at Diamond Middle School in December 2025. 

“The graffiti included an antisemitic neo-nazi symbol and a racist anti-Black epithet, and it explicitly named me in a derogatory manner,” Diamond Principal Johnny Cole, who is gay and a person of color, wrote to Diamond families after that incident.

In response to that incident, the district hired a third party to give students a lesson on antisemitism in May. That lesson garnered mixed feedback from parents. 

Over the summer, LPS administrators took part in a “Summer Work Intensive,” where they “read, discussed, and made plans for how to proactively deal with all forms of hate, including racism and antisemitism,” Hackett said. 

“We’re going to continue to partner with community groups like LUAA, ABCL, and others — and keep doing the deep work on combating racism, antisemitism, and all forms of hate,” the superintendent told LexObserver.

Leave a comment

Commenters must be registered and logged in with a verified email address and REAL FIRST AND LAST NAME. To register for an account visit the registration page for our site. If you already have an account, you can login here or by clicking "My Account" on the upper right hand corner of any page on the site, right above the search icon.

Commenters must use their real first and last name and a real email address.
We do not allow profanity, racism, or misinformation.
We expect civility and good-faith engagement.

We cannot always fact check every comment, verify every name, or debate the finer points of what constitutes civility. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem inappropriate, and we ask for your patience and understanding if something slips through that may violate our terms.

We are open to a wide range of opinions and perspectives. Criticism and debate are fundamental to community – but so is respect and honesty. Thank you.