Case closed on Agoura High racist graffti incident

Boy ordered to pay cleanup costs



A former Agoura High School student has been found guilty in Los Angeles County Juvenile Court of one count of felony vandalism, according to Las Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent Dan Stepenosky.

The youth was convicted June 23 of writing racist and threatening graffiti on several Agoura High School buildings last year, including listing the names of five African American students— himself included—on the wall of the boys’ bathroom along with the words “first to die.”

The list appeared days after the original graffiti was discovered on Mother’s Day 2013, triggering a firestorm of news reports and concerns over racism at AHS, where African Americans make up just 1 percent of the 2,000-person student body.

A school official who did not want to be identified said the student, then a sophomore, was a basketball player at Agoura High and his motive for writing the graffiti and the list was to create a “hardship” that would allow him to sidestep CIF rules and transfer to another school without having to sit out a year.

The CIF rule allows one school transfer, and since the student had already played basketball at Calabasas High before transferring to Agoura, he would have had to sit out a season if he moved to another school. Fear of an attack by unknown assailants would have allowed the student to transfer and still play basketball under the CIF’s hardship waiver.

Stepenosky said the boy was ordered by the court to pay full restitution of $3,740, the cost to clean up the graffiti at AHS. He was also placed on probation for a year.

In addition, the student will be required to seek counseling, take a trip to the Museum of Tolerance and write an essay outlining how his actions negatively affected the school and the greater community, Stepenosky said.

After the discovery of the graffiti and hit list last year, a $1,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible. Even after the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department declared no students were at risk, questions lingered about possible racism at Agoura High School.

Stepenosky said those concerns proved to be unfounded.

“The perpetrator wanted to create a sense of campus unrest for self-gain,” he said in an email. “We now have the truth, and that person is no longer a student at Agoura High School, (and) the appropriate discipline will be delivered.”

Stepenosky said the “act caused concern among staff, students and parents,” and he is relieved that there was never really a racist threat at Agoura High School. He said it was a “painful chapter, and an unnecessary chapter” at the school and in the city of Agoura Hills.

In the meantime, the convicted student has transferred to Oak Park High School. He is a member of the school’s basketball team but, according to CIF rules, was not allowed to play during the past season.

Oak Park High School Principal Kevin Buchanan said the student transferred to the school on an interdistrict permit last summer.

“Although he was enrolled for the entire school year he did not play for us at all,” Buchanan said. “He has now served his CIF required sit-out period, but our coach has not yet selected next year’s team roster. I can’t speculate as to whether he will play for OPHS this upcoming season. As long as he abides by our code of conduct and is academically eligible, he can try out for the team along with other interested students. We are able and willing to provide this student the opportunity to pursue his education and give him a chance at a fresh start in a new environment.”



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *