Alleged Racist Insults Lead BFA-Fairfax to Ban Fans From Basketball Games 

BFA-Fairfax won't allow fans at high school basketball games while the school district investigates allegations that a spectator used the N-word toward one or several Milton High School athletes after a game on Thursday night.

"The physical and emotional safety of all students in all aspects of school life is paramount to our work as educators," said a letter to the community about the incident signed by Franklin West superintendent John Tague, BFA-Fairfax principal Elizabeth Noonan and director of student activities Geri Witalec-Krupa. "The use of racially charged language and intimidating behavior will never be tolerated at BFA-Fairfax."


The Franklin West administrators said they are working with their counterparts in Milton to conduct an investigation into what happened and will revisit the decision around spectators after they identify the individuals involved and take appropriate action.

In a letter to her school community on Friday, Milton Town School District superintendent Amy Rex provided details about how Thursday night's incident unfolded. After the game ended, Rex wrote, BFA-Fairfax fans rushed onto the court and "in the chaos that ensued, it was reported that the n-word was used toward one or more of our students."

Later, as Milton players exited the locker room, they had a "confrontation" with the lingering BFA-Fairfax fans that was "emotionally charged" and "unsafe for our athletes," Rex wrote.


In addition to calling for BFA-Fairfax to ban spectators from its boys' and girls' basketball games until an investigation is complete, Rex laid out other measures her school district will take.

Those include conducting its own investigation and sharing the findings with BFA-Fairfax administrators; asking the Vermont Principals' Association, the state's governing body for high school sports, to require the referees who were assigned to the game submit reports about what happened; and setting their own terms for BFA-Fairfax fans at Milton games, which may mean not allowing them to attend.

Vermont Principals' Association assistant executive director Lauren Thomas wrote in an email that the school district's decision to exclude spectators is in line with VPA's "safe playing environment" statement, which is intended to be read before every interscholastic sports game. The statement says if behavior or speech intended to demean, disrespect or harm is reported or observed, one of the appropriate consequences is scheduling future games without fans. Thomas noted that there were accusations of hate speech during another school's junior varsity girls' basketball game last season, and, in that case, the school's activities director made fans leave the gym before resuming play.