ADAMS TWP — Pleas were made amid tears as dozens of residents packed the Mars Primary School cafeteria Tuesday to voice concerns over hateful speech and physical violence in the Mars School District in recent weeks.

The meeting was the first held after reports surfaced of “hateful rhetoric'' in the district led to a physical altercation, with school administrators putting out a letter to the district community Monday.

In the letter, Wesley Shipley, superintendent, said the incident was under investigation with the assistance of local law enforcement. The letter did not identify a timeline for the incident, nor did it identify the students involved citing confidentiality laws. Shipley cited district policies dealing with harassment and said such interactions would not be tolerated.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, which drew more than 50 people and had two police officers on hand, Shipley reaffirmed the topics addressed in the letter, as well as the district's commitment to investigating reports. He also urged parents and students to report similar instances immediately.

“I'm very disappointed in this recent incident,” he said. “Since this occurred, we've heard from several students and parents who have shared details that if we had known them earlier ... we could have helped to prevent such an incident.”

On Tuesday, parents shared personal experiences of their children as victims of racism that made many in the crowd visibly emotional.

Parent Janet Parham said her child had experienced racial issues at the school. She said she brought those issues to the attention of school administrators, and they were not addressed appropriately.

She said a language arts class presentation by a “well-known student who everybody knows is not too kind with his words” devolved into that student using a racial slur multiple times. She said the teacher kept her daughter after class and said, “I hope you were not offended.”

“I was in tears when my daughter came home,” Parham said as she cried. “A student taught my daughter that she is different and it's not fair because she's not different, and it has to stop.”

Attendees were seen holding back tears of their own as Parham told how her daughter asked to move from the district to avoid the harassment.

“I said to her, 'Moving is not the answer, you have to learn to deal it,'” she said. “When somebody called her 'the N word,' it cut to the bone — it is deep, extremely deep. So do not shove it off like it is another word. ... It caused scars, and scars forever.”

Jeff Bonifate, a parent in the district, said he has heard enough about the recent physical altercation, as well as similar incidents in the past, to know the appropriate action is not being taken.

“I'm not here because my kids were in this incident, I'm here to show my kids what it means to stand up for what is right,” he said.

As a school administrator in another district, he said the goal is to protect the health and safety of students. He said the school board was being naive and “borderline negligent” by not taking swift action and punishing students who are racist, homophobic and xenophobic.

He held a copy of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” while he spoke, which he said should serve as an example of how to handle such incidents.

“We all should go home and tell our kids, 'Do the right thing and make better decisions,'” Bonifate said. “Let's take some advice from the past and quit repeating it.”

The incident spurred students to take action earlier this week, as they hung signs throughout the high school's hallways indicating “enough is enough,” and wore green in support of the victim.

Many attending Tuesday wore green as well, including Jesse Caringola, a senior who serves as president of an anti-bullying and diversity club. She said as she plans to attend college this fall with a goal of teaching high school, she is more concerned than ever about the issues of bullying and intolerance her future students will be subject to.

“How am I supposed to teach my students the complex intricacies of our world if my students don't even understand the intricacies of race and culture?” she asked, adding that many of her classmates have been made to feel lesser than others due to such rhetoric.

She said the anti-bullying club was asked by the school board to create a list of bullying-related issues members believe need to be addressed. The group suggested harsher punishment for those found to be bullying, as well as a more proactive approach from administration.

“These were the things we all put together and sent here at the beginning of the year, and I speak for myself as well as my peers to say that we are, at the very least, very frustrated to have seen the bullying continue to worsen,” Jesse said.

She said the group had approached school administrators to bring in anti-bullying and diversity speakers, but was told there was no time in the school calendar to do so.

“I'm not going to tell you what you need to stop doing, but what we need to start doing,” she said. “We need to start having an open discussion about the issues that cause bullying. We need to start educating our students on cultures and traditions that are not part of the majority that we are often exposed to.

“We need you to take action as we have been trying to do. We can't do this without your support.”

Shipley said the district is working to bring in speakers to address diversity issues, and will begin following the Rachel's Challenge anti-bullying campaign at the start of the next school year. That will include keynote speakers and small group workshops for students and faculty alike, he said.

“It's something I'm really looking forward to,” Shipley said.

Dayle Ferguson, school board president, said the new programming has been in the works for several months and is a direct result of the recommendations made by the anti-bullying group.

“Your questions and concerns were not ignored,” she said.

The next school board meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district office.