By Solvejg Wastvedt

MPR News/90.1 News

The day after the election, messages including “whites only”, “Trump Train” and the n-word were scrawled on a bathroom door at Maple Grove Senior High.

The district reacted by starting an investigation and contacting police. And the next morning, a parent told MPR News that her daughter found students smiling and handing out cookies, along with messages of acceptance posted on the wall.

Reactions to Tuesday’s presidential election are playing out in schools around the state, with tension reported in some cases as students bring differing views to class.

The smiles and cookies after the racist graffiti in Maple Grove were a step toward healing divisions — but they certainly won’t solve a problem that is not unique to Maple Grove.

Students around the state are struggling with divisions that mirror the country’s deeply divided voting-age adults.

East across the Mississippi River at Spring Lake Park High School, Principal Jane Stevenson wrote a Facebook post about a report of “disrespectful, inappropriate and racially offensive graffiti” on a girls’ bathroom wall. Pictures of it made the rounds on social media, and Stevenson condemned the act.