PEABODY — Following a steady increase in antisemitism and hate speech at Higgins Middle School, Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala announced that there will be grade-by-grade assemblies this Friday, led by Lappin Foundation President and Executive Director Debbie Coltin.

At Tuesday evening’s School Committee meeting, Vadala shared that there have been recent bullying situations where some middle school students “have exhibited some inappropriate behavior, including antisemitic speech, including symbols, including some homophobic speech.”

He described one recent instance where a group of students were using hurtful antisemitic speech toward another group of students, who then used harmful homophobic rhetoric in response.

“Everyone who was participating in this speech was not in the right… We’ve talked to the families and whatnot, and there needs to be some individual consequences; there needs to be some supportive measures; and there needs to be some education for our students,” Vadala said.

For him, it’s important that there is a grander response than simply handling that specific situation with those students and their families.

This is where the Lappin Foundation, a nonprofit that enhances Jewish identity across generations and provides meaningful antisemitism education, comes in.

“The purpose of the assembly is educational,” Vadala stated. “Students will learn about the impact of words, symbols, and actions; how hate speech affects individuals and school communities; and why it is important for students to recognize, reject, and report language or behavior that targets others based on religion, identity, background, or belief.”

He hopes Friday’s assemblies can spark meaningful change.

Further, Vadala is asking the Peabody community to take on a summer reading initiative to better understand why there is no place for hate. He is suggesting the community read “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist.

“It’s 180 pages. I think people can get through it,” he said. “We’ll offer a lot of support. There’s an e-book. There’s an audiobook. It’s in multiple languages… I can’t say enough about this. I read it about a month ago. It is transformative. It does give you a different outlook on life, and I look forward to reading it again in the summer.”

He added that there will be additional educational opportunities to discuss the book in the fall.

School Committee member Pamela Milman, who is Jewish, added that she received calls from parents who stated that there was recently a swastika on the Higgins field, which came as a surprise to Mayor Ted Bettencourt, who said, “That’s very disturbing and troubling.”

Parents have stated that Peabody Police are investigating and will be going through video surveillance to identify the assailant; the police were unable to be reached for comment prior to press time.

“It’s important to have uncomfortable conversations to have comfortable conversations and make change,” Milman said, additionally calling for more transparency and timely communication when hateful incidents happen.

School Committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne added, “The utter ignorance that seems prevalent in society today is appalling, and I do think we need to be able to make a stand against it to make sure that when the students are here, that they’re learning how to treat people properly, how to respect people, how to appreciate other people.”