A West Virginia family says they’ve suffered racism for years in their community, but it all came to a head when a school staff member started sending heinous, threatening messages about them, prompting them to move out of the state entirely. The Pendleton County School District fired a part-ti me employee who served as a volunteer coach with the school division after discovering “racist and threatening” messages the staffer exchanged with another person on social media. A West Virginia family says they’re moving out of the state after facing multiple racist incidents, including being the targets of disturbing, racial threats sent by a school employee. (Photo: Screenshot/WHSV) On Facebook, the school division released a statement on March 13 confirming the individual had been fired. The district also apologized to the impacted family. “We were shocked and disturbed during our review of the messages. This language and behavior do not reflect the values or expectations of Pendleton County Schools. Our school system is committed to fostering an environment of respect, dignity, and inclusion for all students, families, and members of our community. Atlanta Cop Shot Man 17 Times as He Urinated Into Bushes — Family Says Bodycam Video Proves It Was Execution – But Investigators Refuse to Release Video to Public Because this conduct is unequivocally inconsistent with those values, the individual is no longer serving as a citizen coach within Pendleton County Schools. Immediate action was taken to end the individual’s services in that role. We sincerely apologize to the family who was directly impacted by these messages. While the messages were communicated in the individual’s personal capacity using private social media or technology, they nonetheless cast an unwanted shadow on our school system given his former coaching role.“ Now, the family that was the target of those racist threats is speaking out. Romeo and Bethany Perez, a mixed-race couple whose children are enrolled in the Pendleton school system, said the behavior is nothing new to them. “This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with this …,” Bethany Perez told WHSV. “… this has been going on for years.” Romeo Perez said that back in November, he was called racial slurs by another person during a school football game where his son was playing, and his daughter was cheering. Perez shoved the individual and was subsequently banned from school property for one year. It’s unclear if the person who used the slurs faced discipline. The family said now they’re dealing with the fallout from the social media messages the school employee sent about them. They described some of the message content. “In the messages, it’s like ‘coming and finding me and putting a belt around my neck,’ and like, that’s a threat,” Romeo explained. Due to the multiple instances of racist abuse, the family has decided to move out of West Virginia entirely to seek a more inclusive environment. “I mean, it’s to the point where we have a move out of the state in June, we bought a house in Virginia, and are moving out,” Bethany said. In a statement, Pendleton Schools Superintendent Nicole Henever said the district is aware of the “private communications” containing the racist language, but isn’t releasing any more information on the matter. “PCS is aware of the private communications between two individuals, including a now-former citizen coach. In every situation, we are committed to fostering an environment of respect, dignity, and inclusion for all students, families, and community members. We will continue forward with that commitment. Addressing the school system’s engagement with the impacted family, among other things, is neither appropriate nor productive. No further comment will be made to the media.” ‘We Were Shocked’: West Virginia School Employee Fired After Family Receives Disturbing, Racist Threats That Forced Them to Move Out of State ...read more read less