New London — A New London school board Zoom meeting was momentarily hijacked on Thursday by several individuals repeatedly yelling racial slurs and vulgarities, stunning a group of nearly 60 participants.

“Shut up, (N-word). Black lives don’t matter,” were just a few of the comments uttered during the 30-second rant.

The shocking interruption came during a plea by members of the community to remove police officers from the schools.

Faces and names briefly accompanied the individuals making the comments. School board Vice President Jefferey Hart promised a full investigation.

“I am hoping there is some way to find out who that was, so that we can report them to the police,” school board President Regina Mosley said. “I'm going to speak for the rest of the board when I say we will not tolerate hate speech. We are going to figure out where that came from.”

Kristea Francolino, the manager of executive support services, said the meeting was being recorded and would be retained.

Community members, including several members of the youth activist group Hearing Youth Voices, came out in unusually high numbers Thursday to call on the school district to end the practice of police in the schools.

Denise Boyd called for more money to be spent on mental health and academic supports, rather a program that makes the school look and feel more “like a prison.”

Shineika Fareus said the practice of armed police officers in the school hallways is threatening to many brown and black students, some of whom may have been previously traumatized

“The last thing they need when entering the school is a bad encounter with a police officer,” she said. “Hearing Youth Voices calls for our school system once more to not just have restorative practices written in our student handbook but to know what it's like to actually put them into practice,” she said.

Baylee Howard, a former New London history teacher now pursuing a doctorate with a focus on educational equity, said studies show the practice of police in schools disproportionately has a negative impact on minorities of low socio-economic status.

“I understand the desire by members of the community to build bridges between youth and officers in the city but a police presence in the schools is not the way to do so,” Howard said. “We do not need our students to be overpoliced in comparison to their white peers in the next town over. We need more councilors, social workers, support staff, training and teachers.”

Meaningful relationships between youth and officers are rarely created by a forced police presence, she said. “Students don’t need a constant implied threat.”

The school board meeting still was in progress at press deadline.

g.smith@theday.com