Howard schools had 28 incidents of discrimination against Jewish students, federal investigation finds

 

Posting swastikas, mimicking Nazi salutes, threatening to kill Jewish people.

These are among at least 28 incidents of alleged anti-Semitic activities across 16 Howard County Public Schools during the past two academic years identified by the U.S Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in a newly released investigation.

The civil rights office found that “a hostile environment likely existed” for Jewish students who attended Howard County Public Schools during the past two years.

A Jewish middle school student was called a “dirty Jew” and was told to “go back to the gas chamber,” according to the investigation. Other incidents include using the term “Jew” as a slur, making Jew jokes and professing a love for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Howard Schools acknowledged to federal investigators that it did not consider whether the reported incidents played a role in creating a hostile learning environment, which led the civil rights office to be concerned “that a hostile environment likely existed for individual Jewish students and may have operated for Jewish students school - and school system-wide.”

To address the alleged anti-semitic harassment, Howard Schools entered into a resolution agreement with the Office of Civil Rights designed to ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the alleged harassment on March 25 after a complaint alleged the school system “discriminated against students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond to harassment during the 2023–2024 school year.”

The investigation also found that additional incidents happened at student walkouts in response to the Israel-Hamas war. High schoolers at multiple county high schools walked out in protest over the war last school year.

The ACLU of Maryland said in June that River Hill High School administrators tried to silence Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian students who wanted to participate in a November 2023 walkout.

After several meetings the students were allowed to participate in the walkout but under “strict conditions,” and could not say ““Palestine,” ”Gaza,” “apartheid,” or “siege,” according to the ACLU.

Some Jewish students stayed home on the day of the walkout and one requested to leave school that because “peers were making ‘jew jokes and I’m just pissed,‘” the investigation found.

Under the school system’s agreement with the civil right office, Howard Schools must take a variety of actions to ensure a hostile learning environment does not exist for Jewish students.

Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights, said in a statement: “By entering this resolution agreement, Howard County Publlic [sic] Schools commits to protecting students regardingless [sic] of their national origin or shared ancestry so students can learn in an environment free from harassment that violates Title VI of the the [sic] Civil Rights Act,” said Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights, in a statement.

Howard Schools “is pleased” to resolve the complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, said Brian Bassett, a schools spokesman, in a statement. The office’s investigation aligns with actions being implemented by the school system to ensure the protection of student rights.

“Training and open dialog will continue so students may express their views and concerns in an appropriate and effective manner,” Bassett said.

Meredith R. Weisel, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in the Washington D.C. office, said in a statement that the agreement is “both welcome and overdue.”

“Now the school system will be both accountable and responsible for the protection of their students, who deserve no less,” Weisel said.

The incidents, Weisel said, did not allow for a healthy learning environment.