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Anti-Semitic incidents create hostile atmosphere at California school

Theo

Repeated swastika graffiti and other anti-Semitic incidents at a Carmel Unified School District school have created a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released Friday.

The complaints against the unnamed California school related to 15 incidents during the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 school years.

In 2021, the school repeatedly witnessed swastika slogans in the bathrooms. In one heavily redacted incident, a student somehow scrawled swastikas on another’s bare skin. That same year, a student reported receiving a ruler with a swastika and the “N-word” scrawled on it. The measuring device was then passed around the class. In 2022, swastikas and an “SS” logo were painted or etched on desks in two classrooms.

In the 2023-2024 school year, one student reportedly told another that he wanted to “kill all the Jews and burn them in their homes.” One student drew a swastika in class but claimed he did not know what the symbol meant when confronted by teaching staff. Another student drew a swastika as part of a game about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, leading to a discussion with the assistant principal about the subject not being appropriate for games. A guard found additional swastika graffiti in a bathroom stall and on a bench that same year.

The school district did not keep records

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) said its investigation was hampered by the county’s lack of record-keeping, which resulted in a gap in records for the 2022-2023 year. According to OCR, it is likely that additional incidents occurred this year and possibly in other cases, but were not recorded.

Students walk to their classrooms at a public middle school in Los Angeles, California, September 10, 2021. (Source: ROBYN BECK / AFP)

Despite the lack of records, the OCR stated that the frequency of documented anti-Semitic incidents shows that such behavior is widespread and not isolated.

The district claimed it received no formal complaints and no student felt harassed or subjected to a hostile environment in 2021-2022, but students and administration expressed a desire to change the school culture by establishing a joint Anti-Hate Speech Task Force. The school did not implement any of the strategies suggested by the group. The district also failed to adequately respond to the incidents in 2023-2024.

“The district failed to take prompt and effective action that would have been appropriate to eliminate, prevent the recurrence of, and remedy the effects of a known hostile environment for students with common Jewish ancestry,” the report said.

The district was cleared of discrimination charges following a second investigation into a heavily redacted incident.



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