Three class floats were found vandalized with racially charged graffiti last Friday morning, just hours before Cal High’s annual homecoming parade that was part of the school’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Leadership students, who had spent a month working on the floats, discovered around 9 a.m. swastikas, the n-word and other hateful phrases spray painted on the freshman, sophomore and senior floats that were parked behind the football field.
Parent volunteers quickly stepped in to help students cover up the vandalism so the parade could continue by painting over it and obscuring it under posters and balloons. Cal’s custodial team also helped remove the graffiti from the float trailers before they were transported to Athan Downs Park.
“Our students and parents came together and made it happen in such a short amount of time,” Principal Demetrius Ball said. “I would like to celebrate that perseverance, that Grizzly spirit, like, hey, [the parade] is something that we are passionate about and we’re not going to let this vandal take away our homecoming.”
Because of their efforts, the parade proceeded as normal, with students cheering and throwing candy from all four class floats as they marched through San Ramon streets.
Administrators and the San Ramon Police Department are investigating the vandalism, Ball said. If caught, Ball said the perpetrators will face disciplinary and legal action.
“It’s disappointing that someone, potentially a student or adult, whoever it was, tried to divide and tried to hurt us,” Ball said.
Several leadership students and leadership advisor, Troy Bristol, declined to comment on the floats.
Many students were disgusted by the graffiti and condemned the vandals.
“It’s just really immature,” sophomore Sreesha Muthukumar said. “If you know it’s not right, then why would you do it?”
Junior Caleb Jones could only describe the incident with profanity, and sophomore Kuber Uppal said he hopes there is retribution for the culprits.
“I don’t think what they did was right,” Uppal said. “I feel bad for the people that worked hard on [the floats] and I hope [the vandals] get caught.”
Cal parent Karen Stapley volunteered to use balloons from her balloon company to cover the graffiti on the freshman float, which had had its signs and Barbie-themed boxes ripped and vandalized. Stapley said that despite the awful graffiti, she was glad to see the community come together to make the parade work in the end.
“It’s unfortunate that someone’s actions can affect such a positive experience,” Stapley said. “But in the end we have a great community that’s always willing to step in and help.”
Administrators are considering ways to prevent vandalism from happening again in the future, like moving the floats to a more secure location or investing in overnight security measures like in some previous years.
“It’s sad to think that we’re going to have to invest people power or money to protect floats that shouldn’t have to be guarded, because we’re doing [the parade] to bring the school and community together,” Ball said.
This year, the floats were kept on the north side of the football stadium next to the varsity softball field. According to Ball, anyone could have had access to the floats if they just hopped the fence from the trail or came over on Broadmoor.
Coincidentally, this week is Restorative Justice Week, which consists of four presentations administered by teachers during student support throughout the week about microaggressions and repairing harm through restorative justice.
The event was pre-planned by the Restorative Justice Coalition club a month earlier and is unrelated to the vandalism, but Ball said the timing was fortunate for this week in particular.
“[Restorative justice] gives strategies, [and] opens up the lines of communication to have discussion between community members about how they’ve been impacted by some type of harm,” Ball said.
He added that administrators have a restorative mindset towards discipline and try to support individuals that may be harmed or impacted by an act, including the person who committed the act.

This story was originally published on The Californian on October 5, 2023.