Alta principal says goodbye as 3 students are cited in recent race-related incidents

SANDY — Three Alta High School students have been issued misdemeanor citations following an investigation into recent allegedly racist incidents at the school.

The charges came on the same day Alta High principal Mont Widerberg announced his early retirement. In a statement he sent to faculty and staff Thursday, Widerberg said his decision "in no way reflects any admission of guilt."

In the heartfelt letter, Widerberg bids farewell "to the youth and staff of Alta High who I love so much," and asks that they not allow recent events to have a negative impact on them. Widerberg has been an educator in Jordan and Canyons districts for 33 years.

"Take the challenge to teach, and learn the principles of love, caring, compassion, understanding, tolerance and especially forgiveness," Widerberg wrote. "Promise yourselves that you will respect others and treat them with dignity. Do everything to combat the evils of the world and to promote good."

Widerberg and vice principal Mark Montague were placed on paid leave by the district earlier this week after the Canyons School District began an investigation related to an incident at a school assembly. At a March 17 Spirit Bowl, a junior reportedly dressed in all white — his class color — and donned a white pillow case with holes cut out of it in an effort to taunt the senior class. Some felt his dress resembled KKK attire.

While looking into that event, the district's office of civil rights found something more concerning, said district spokesman Jeff Haney.

Haney declined to elaborate on the specific circumstances, but said they gave the district "great pause." He said they're more serious than the assembly or a text message photo of a burning cross that spread among students at school after the assembly.

"It's not just the isolated incident of the spirit assembly and the text messages," he said. "It goes beyond that, into very serious incidents that we really, truly believe warrant a lot of investigation."

For such serious incidents, students, parents and teachers seemed pretty unsure about what they could be. Some wondered if a fight at the end of the last school year could be a contribution, but beyond that, there wasn't much consensus.

The three Alta students who were charged were issued citations for unlawful acts in school, all class B misdemeanors. Two of the students were cited for allegedly sending pictures of burning crosses on their phones. Police would not confirm whether the student who wore the pillowcase was one of the three.