In the midst of news about issues of governance at Boston College High School breaking into the pages of the Boston Globe over the last week, on Monday the school’s parents were told by the principal about racial incidents involving students that the school had first heard about “several weeks ago.”

In a 900-word email message to parents, the principal, Stephen Hughes, reported that “some students” on social media has used “racial epithets and otherwise inappropriate and demeaning language to address two of their African-American classmates who were also members of this ‘chat room.’ “This language was also used outside of the chat room and in person,” he added, noting that “this behavior had gone on for many weeks and months before it was found out and brought to our attention.”

Students were sanctioned, according to Hughes, with suspensions ranging from “several days to several weeks” on the recommendation of a faculty-led Accountability Board.

Hughes began his message with an apology for not alerting parents earlier about the matter, given that back at the start of the school year, he had mentioned the school’s commitment to “examining the issue of race and racism, both within, and in addition to, our common curriculum.”

Hughes told parents that “prompted by these events as well as other concerns, students leaders met with the administration and shared their experiences.” They also, he said, “provided us with a list of demands and we are acting on those demands in order that we better our school community.”

Student leaders are pressing for more diversity among the student body and faculty, among other reforms.

As to the issues of governance aired in the Globe in a front-page news story on Saturday, a column on Tuesday, and a Page One story on Wednesday, the Reporter has been told that the school’s board is split into factions, several of which have strong opinions about matters like having girls join the student body, something Cardinal Sean O’Malley is said to oppose, according to the Globe’s latest story. The school has been all male since its founding 1863.

Other questions being raised are about what some see as serious issues of enrollment fall-off. These discussions are expected to continue to play out on a campus now being led by a committee put in place when longtime president William Kemeza said he would be leaving at the end of the school year.