'Inappropriate and racist message:' Officials condemn picture showing segregated water fountains inside Franklin H.S.

FRANKLIN -- A racist message displayed inside Franklin High School on Monday, Jan . 22 and posted on social media has prompted school officials to take action. Students are now speaking out about the racial climate in the school.

A water fountain pictured in the social media post may be a gift from the class of 2013, but the words above it are reminiscent of a pre-civil rights era. The photo shows two water fountains in one of the school's hallways labeled "white" and "colored."

Jacob Romanski snapped a photo of it and went straight to administrators.

"I was kind of sad, mad, angry," Romanski said. "It's unacceptable."

Romanski said he is fed up with the bigotry he has seen occur in the past. He wanted to expose what is happening.

"This picture is kind of opening people's eyes to what the students are seeing," Romanski said. "People say the 'n' word. They throw that around. There's also other discriminatory words they use such as the 'r' word."

After Romanski posted it on social media, it spread like wildfire -- even reaching Bria Smith, a student who is out of the country on a trip.

"There have been lots of situations where we have been racially profiled," said  Smith. "It's kind of scary to go to a school where people still have the mindset."

Smith asked her sister to help share the post to help create a conversation about awareness and acceptance. As an alum of Franklin High School, she said prejudice among students does happen.

"I know the whole school is not bad; the whole city of Franklin is not bad. It's just individuals that taken this stuff lightly," said Amber Smith. "It's not funny. It hurts people."

School officials said they were able to identify the person responsible -- and are addressing the student's behavior.

Here is the complete message from Franklin High School Principal Michael Vuolo:

Below is a statement from the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of Wisconsin and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation: