Over the course of Loudoun County Public School’s first week of virtual learning, several students used racist slurs during class, showed sexual or racist images on screen, or joined virtual sessions in classes or schools of which they were not a part.

Eric Williams, the school system’s superintendent, sent an email to families on Friday evening alerting them to the situation. He did not name the students involved or cite the number of incidents that occurred. But he did denounce the students’ behavior, saying it violated the school system’s equity standards and the appropriate conduct expectations for virtual learning.

“We reject and condemn the use of racial slurs and hate speech and we will not tolerate the display of inappropriate images,” he wrote. “This behavior does not reflect our core beliefs.”

The email did allude to some details of the inappropriate behavior.

“Although some may believe that it is acceptable to use expressions that are defined as racial slurs as a term of endearment to their friends, LCPS will not tolerate such language in a school environment,” Williams wrote. “The display of sexually explicit and pornographic images is a violation of our Student Code of Conduct and will also not be tolerated.”

Williams’ announcement came just three days after the county’s school board unanimously passed a comprehensive equity plan. The plan bans the use of the N-word by students and employees and aims to increase accountability for racist actions, among other goals.

Williams said the school system will be taking action to prevent future inappropriate incidents during its virtual school year. Teachers will be given “additional guidance” on how to manage their virtual classrooms, and students will be reminded of behavior expectations as outlined in the LCPS Student Code of Conduct.

He also said the school system would cooperate with local authorities in instances of hate crimes and technological misuse.

LCPS plans to conduct the first part of its school year entirely virtually. It is the third-largest school system in Virginia, with more than 84,000 students.

Loudoun is far from the only school system in the D.C. region to face technological and behavioral problems during the first weeks of school. Fairfax County Public Schools is currently investigating an alleged cyber attack in which ransomware was placed on its computer systems. In a statement Friday, it said it is working with the FBI to address the issue.