A swastika was found on a third floor boys bathroom stall in the afternoon by school personnel at George G. White Middle School on Tuesday, Dec. 4. 

After graduating George G. White Middle School in Hillsdale, most students attend Pascack Valley along with students from Holdrum Middle School in River Vale.

According to an email obtained by The Smoke Signal sent by Principal Donald Bergamini to the Hillsdale Schools community on Tuesday, the symbol was drawn in pencil and removed from the bathroom immediately. Once the swastika was discovered, the symbol was photographed, the Hillsdale Police Department was contacted to report the incident as a hate crime, and the school began conducting its own investigation to track students who visited the bathroom during the school day.

“The Hillsdale Public Schools condemns all acts of hate, violence, and intolerance,” Bergamini said in the email.

Bergamini did not respond on Wednesday to multiple requests for a comment.

This incident comes on the heels of five swastikas that were discovered at PV on Sept. 27, Oct. 18, and Nov. 6, and several swastikas and a racial slur that were found at Pascack Hills on Nov. 30.

In the email Bergamini said he and Assistant Principal Charles Giordano met with all students on Wednesday, Dec. 5, to emphasize the school’s message of “acceptance, kindness for all, and the intolerable nature of symbols that promote hate.”