Four white students at a California high school have faced disciplinary action after sharing a social media post showing them posing with their faces painted black, according to school officials.
San Marcos High School Principal Dare Holdren addressed the incident in a message to families after someone reported the image through the Santa Barbara Unified School District’s Safe to Speak Up system two weeks earlier.
The post featured four female students in an offensive social media image. The school has not released the students’ identities or disclosed the specific disciplinary measures they received.
Holdren said the school had contacted the students’ families and was taking steps to address the situation with them.
“Regardless of intent, students need to understand the impact their words, images, and actions can have on others,” Holdren wrote.
The Santa Barbara Independent reported that the viral TikTok slideshow featured four students who digitally darkened their skin to mimic a “meet the gc” group-chat meme, which originally used an AI-generated photo of four young Black boys in school uniforms.
Holdren described the post as a depiction of blackface, confirming that administrators intervened as soon as a student reported it.
“Racial stereotypes are harmful and have no place in our schools,” Holdren wrote in his message to families.
He added that the image continued circulating among students, causing widespread distress and prompting school leaders to address the incident publicly.
A source told KEYT that at least two of the students pictured took an African American Studies course and that they took the photograph inside the classroom where the course was taught.The district has not confirmed those details publicly.
The controversy comes only months after Black students addressed the Santa Barbara Unified school board about what they described as ongoing racism across district campuses.
During a June meeting, students told the board that classmates had directed racial slurs, made monkey noises and subjected them to other forms of anti-Black harassment. Some students also said school officials had responded inconsistently when they reported those incidents.
Students called for stronger disciplinary measures, thorough investigations into complaints and additional training for teachers and staff on racism.
Santa Barbara Unified Superintendent Hilda Maldonado also acknowledged concerns about how students have been treated.
“For too long, students have not always experienced the same expectations, treatment, or consequences based on race,” Maldonado wrote in a message to district families.
This incident is the latest in a series of racial controversies at San Marcos High School.
Less than a year ago, administrators removed a substitute teacher who read the N-word aloud during a classroom discussion of “Of Mice and Men” — defying explicit instructions not to use the slur, according to The Santa Barbara Independent.
The district has faced allegations of racial mistreatment in previous years as well.
In 2022, a mother reported that classmates assaulted her 13-year-old son during class at Santa Barbara Junior High School — shouting the N-word, pinning him to the floor, kneeling on his head and neck, and referencing George Floyd.
District officials condemned the attack and confirmed taking corrective disciplinary action.
Santa Barbara Unified serves roughly 13,065 students. Hispanic or Latino students make up about 58% of enrollment, while White students account for approximately 32%. Black students represent less than 1% of the district’s enrollment.
For now, the district has not identified the four students involved in the latest social media controversy or provided details about the consequences they received.
School officials say they are educating the students about how their actions can affect others while the district continues addressing complaints of racism and harassment on its campuses.
