Edmonds School District Superintendent Kris McDuffy issued a statement Monday night regarding “deep and painful feelings” surrounding the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed Black man who died last month after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly eight minutes.

In her letter to district families and staff, McDuffy called Floyd’s death — which has sparked protests in the U.S. and around the world —  a “senseless killing” and said the district is committed to supporting students and families experiencing racism.

“We will continue the work to seek to understand how these tragedies continue to happen and what can be done to prevent them from occurring in the future,” McDuffy said. “We will continue to make efforts and collectively embrace hope through our equity policy, our Black Lives Matter resolution, and our commitment to student, staff and family voice.”

Here is the full letter:

Dear Edmonds School District families and staff,

I write to you this evening with a broken and heavy heart. I want to acknowledge the senseless killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis and the events that have since followed. It is undoubtedly weighing heavily on all of us and leaving many of us, including myself, without the words to express the deep and painful feelings we are experiencing.

Specifically, to our Black students, families and staff – I want you to know that we SEE you, we VALUE you and we STAND WITH you. 

The district is committed to supporting students and families as we navigate the persistent racism and aggression against Black people. We will continue the work to seek to understand how these tragedies continue to happen and what can be done to prevent them from occurring in the future. We will continue to make efforts and collectively embrace hope through our equity policy, our Black Lives Matter resolution, and our commitment to student, staff and family voice.

We know many of you are overwhelmed right now. Please know you are not alone. Even as we must be physically distant from each other, please reach out to those who may need your support and compassion during this time.

We hope the list of resources below can help students, families and staff have necessary conversations about race:

• Teaching Tolerance: White anti-racism
• Discussing Race, Racism and Other Difficult Topics with Students
• Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Ok-Chances are They’re Not 
• Teaching Hard History in Hard Times
• Code Switch Podcast
• NPR What to Say to Kids When the News is Scary

Stay healthy, stay strong!

With my deepest respect and gratitude for our community,