Last June, students took photos of high school senior Saira Ali in the cafeteria. The pictures later appeared on Snapchat with the word "Isis" on them.
Photos were taken of Saira Ali in the Colonia High School cafeteria and posted to Snapchat with the word "Isis." (Facebook) WOODBRIDGE - At least two students were disciplined and the use of cell phones banned from Colonia High School's lunchroom following the harassment of a Muslim student on social media, according to Superintendent of Schools Robert Zega.
"She didn't deserve to have her picture put on social media," Zega said Wednesday. "It was hateful, it was biased, it was racist. It's our job to ensure we have a process in place to prevent this from happening again."
Last June, students took photos of high school senior Saira Ali in the cafeteria. The pictures later appeared on Snapchat with the word "Isis" on them.
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The school district investigated the matter, determined that a crime had been committed and contacted the Woodbridge Police Department.
Zega said students were disciplined for taking photos of Ali in the school cafeteria. He would not say how many students were involved, name the students or say what the discipline was meted out because student records are confidential.
However, the superintendent said investigators have not been able to prove who posted Ali's photos to the social media site Snapchat.
And Zega had harsh words for Snapchat, an application that allows users to set time limits on how long their posts can be viewed before they are deleted.
"(Snapchat) was invented for harassing kids anonymously," Zega said. "It allows them to do this type of thing and not get caught."
Zega said school policy before the Ali incident allowed students to use their cellphone during lunch as either a learning tool or for checking email or texting. Students were never allowed to take photos or videos of other students, he said.
Ali, who is now a first-year biology student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, questions whether banning cell phone use during lunch will end harassment.
"My parents and I would like to see corrective action," Ali said Tuesday night. "My parents and I are not satisfied with this."
Four months after the incident, Ali's parents received a letter stating an investigation showed no signs of bullying.
Zega said Wednesday the letter was misleading and that another had been sent to the family on Monday.
The superintendent, however, said he could not comment on the contents of the second letter.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.