Officials are investigating after a black puppet was found hanging by its neck in a room where a northern New Jersey high school's girls' basketball team was changing before a game.
Players from Plainfield High School discovered the puppet hanging by a string in the room they were provided at Arthur L. Johnson High School before they squared off against the Clark school on Saturday.
Clark Superintendent Edward Grande says puppetry is taught in the classroom the team was using.
Superintendent Anna Belin-Pyles says the Plainfield Public School District doesn't condone any acts of intolerance and she considers the "troubling incident" a serious matter.
Clark Public Schools officials have promised to look into the incident. Belin-Pyles says Plainfield officials will help investigate the facts and present their own findings.
