A sensitive issue at Hightower High School had police giving 11 News a hard time.

The reporter covering the story was not allowed to talk to anyone on the public sidewalk nor the public street that faces the school.

The district e-mailed 11 News a picture and said that an 11^th grade student posted the words “white” and “colored” over two water fountains.

Those two words evoked a racially charged message.

Mark Cominsky is the director of the Anti-Defamation League. “They bring back concerns of racism and bigotry from historical times and we are very concerned that people are using those same symbols now.”

Cominsky, helps schools like Hightower deal with racial tension.

He started working with Pearland ISD Wednesday, because two students there, including 17-year-old Corey Joseph Ellis hung a noose in the student parking lot.

“We understand that this is a problem, a day after a school had nooses hung in it… that our work is not done,” said Cominsky.

KHOU - TV

Signs over two water fountains at Hightower High School spark racial tension.

And here’s an interesting detail, school officials say the student who posted the signs is African American.

“It’s a surprising twist and I’m not quite sure what it could be.  But we are concerned that when these symbols are used that we have people use them because of their historical significance,” said Cominsky.

It is a significance that has parents and students very surprised.

The student who posted the signs was ticketed for disorderly conduct by offensive gesture.

He was also suspended for three days.