An investigation of alleged antisemitic harassment in Howard County Public Schools led the district to enter a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Thursday.
The resolution will ensure the Howard County Public School System complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “when responding to allegations of harassment based on shared ancestry,” according to the office.
The school district was notified of at least 28 instances of shared ancestry discrimination against Jewish students at 16 schools during the last two school years, the OCR found through an investigation. The posting of swastikas, the use of “Jew” as a slur, threats to kill Jewish people, a student showing images and professing love for Adolf Hitler to a Jewish student and “targeted” harassment with some walkouts spurred by the Israel-Hamas war were among the list of alleged antisemitic actions that occurred within the school system.
“The school system acknowledged to OCR that the school system did not consider whether any of the reported incidents created a hostile environment in the school system’s education program,” the statement said.
Because the school system did not consider whether the incidents created a hostile environment, it avoided addressing the issue, according to the statement. Thus, a hostile environment likely existed for Jewish students, the statement said, leading the OCR to have concerns about the school system’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VI prevents discrimination based on color, race, or national origin. According to the OCR, a hostile environment based on these characteristics that is tolerated, accepted or uncorrected by a school can be considered discrimination under Title VI.
“The Howard County Public School System is pleased to resolve the complaint in conjunction with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to ensure the protection of student rights. The items shared by OCR align with actions we have been implementing. Training and open dialog will continue so students may express their views and concerns in an appropriate and effective manner,” Brian Bassett, director of communication and engagement for HCPSS, said in a statement.
The resolution was “long incoming,” said Rabbi Yanky Baron, co-director of the Chabad of Ellicott City, adding that he heard from community members who felt their voices weren’t being heard. Antisemitism has long been prevalent in schools, Baron said, but as it grew after the Oct. 7 attack parents decided to take a stand. The Howard County Jewish Advocacy Group filed a federal complaint, he said.
“You could tolerate something for so long, and now parents said ‘it’s enough,’” Baron said. “Dayenu, like they say in Hebrew.”
An investigation was opened last March after a complaint was filed alleging that HCPSS failed to adequately respond to harassment during the 2023-2024 school year under Title VI, discriminating against students’ national origin with their shared Jewish ancestry, according to a letter sent by the OCR to HCPSS Superintendent Bill Barnes.
The investigation looked into walkout protests at seven high schools during the 2023-2024 school year and alleged harassment from the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, the letter said. School system diversity, equity and inclusion officials were also interviewed and community members provided additional information.
The walkouts were held as student protests erupted at universities and schools nationwide in response to Israel’s offensive in the Israel-Hamas war after Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, launched its Oct. 7 attack.
Support was available for students who could be affected by the walkouts and administrators worked with organizing students to set different parameters, for example, prohibiting signs or walking in silence, according to the OCR letter.
More than 30 people and groups contacted the schools with concerns and fears before, during and after the walkouts about actions and language that would cause a hostile environment, the letter said. Some Jewish students stayed home during the walkouts with one student asking permission to leave school early due to Jewish jokes being made.
“While school system students have a First Amendment protected right to express their views, including through walkouts, regarding world events, the school system also has a Title VI obligation to ensure that no hostile environment based on shared ancestry operates in its education program and activities,” the OCR statement read.
In June, ACLU Maryland sent a letter to Barnes and the principal of River Hill High School, where a walkout occurred, explaining that Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian students had been censored over a seven-month period and demanding the school protect their First Amendment rights.
After multiple meetings between student organizers with the school’s Muslim Students Association and Arab Students Association and school administrators, it was decided that the students could hold a walkout as long as they refrained from saying words like “Palestine”, “Gaza”, or “siege.”
“Following these experiences with the RHHS administration, these members of the RHHS MSA and ASA have felt utterly silenced from advocating for Palestine in school and with their peers, a cause that is personal to them as Palestinian students,” the ACLU letter read.
In September, Barnes provided a statement on student rights, focusing on education around rights and responsibilities and students’ well-being.
Following the agreement with the OCR, the school system must take a number of steps such as issuing an anti-harassment statement, reviewing and revising policies and training employees in different areas regarding discrimination.
“Realizing that there’s a problem and taking care of it is already the first step, right? And that’s commendable, and I’m happy that the school system is doing that,” Baron said. “It took a long time to do that, but it’s there is something positive about that.”
Baron hopes that the resolution will serve as an example for schools in other counties in Maryland and nationwide. He would like to work with the school system to foster better communication and transparency and will continue watching to see what changes are made through the agreement.
“Obviously, there was an agreement made, we have to see what things are going to do to change the situation, but I think there is a mandate now to do that,” Baron said. “And I think that has instilled a sense of confidence in parents and students that they can attend school, they can be proud of being Jewish, and the federal government has their back.”
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