New York, NY (July 1, 2025) – ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, and a pro bono team at the law firm Mayer Brown yesterday filed a brief with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) alleging that officials at the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District in Massachusetts failed to protect Jewish students from pervasive antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. The federal filing documents an alarming pattern of antisemitic bullying, slurs, threats, and retaliation at Concord-Carlisle High School and Concord Middle School in Concord, Massachusetts, with at least one Jewish student forced to leave the school district to escape the hostile climate. According to the filing, school and district officials—including the superintendent, administrators, principals, and the district’s Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging—repeatedly failed to take timely or effective action to protect the targeted Jewish student and confront the underlying antisemitic attitudes in the school community, despite receiving numerous reports spanning multiple academic years. “The antisemitic climate at Concord-Carlisle did not emerge overnight. It was allowed to take root and persist,” said Samantha Joseph, ADL New England Regional Director. “The school became a hostile and isolating environment for Jewish students. While the filing focuses largely on one student who was the target of the worst abuse, his was not an isolated case, and there is clear evidence that this was – and remains – a systemic issue. There must be transparency in how the district responds to incidents, and it must adopt clear protocols to address antisemitism, provide guidance on reporting and response, and promote education and awareness to prevent the spread of hate. It’s clear that much work is needed for this district to become a place that truly protects its Jewish students.” According to the filing, school officials ignored sustained patterns of antisemitic abuse and facilitated escalating retaliation by students against their classmate who reported the antisemitic bullying. Despite repeated pleas from the family, the district issued no public condemnation of the abuse before the student’s departure, and other incidents were routinely downplayed or dismissed. The abuse described in the filing included Nazi salutes in school hallways, students dividing themselves into teams called “Team Auschwitz” and “Team Hamas” during athletic games, swastikas drawn in notebooks and on school property, and the use of antisemitic slurs such as “kike,” “dirty Jew,” and “go to the gas chamber.” “The relentless nature of these attacks is a clear sign of an environment of hate and fear, one where no student would be set up for success. Concord-Carlisle officials blatantly ignored a striking pattern of antisemitism and prioritized the status quo over the safety of Jewish students,” said Hon. Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman and CEO of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education who ran OCR during two administrations. “We must hold schools accountable for the wellbeing of all students and for creating learning environments that are conducive to safety, learning and growth.” The filing notes that the failures were not isolated to a few incidents or repeat offenders. The harassment involved at least seven different students across multiple social groups, revealing how deeply entrenched the antisemitic climate had become at Concord-Carlisle. Despite repeated reports, the district took no systemic action to prevent further abuse, educate students, or support bystanders in intervening. Instead, administrators treated each incident as an isolated interpersonal conflict rather than recognizing it as part of a hostile environment requiring a broader response. In one case, the brief alleges that Concord-Carlisle administrators proposed removing the Jewish student from the classroom and all social settings under a so-called “safety plan” that would have placed the student in independent studies and virtual classes while leaving the perpetrators in place. And in another instance, the school’s DEIB director downplayed concerns about the use of a word “kike”– a well-known antisemitic slur – as merely a “microaggression.” The filing also highlights a troubling pattern in which the district issued empty public statements that antisemitism is unacceptable, only for the cycle of abuse to repeat with little meaningful change. For example, after swastikas were found in school bathrooms in late 2024, the district’s response diluted the clearly antisemitic nature of the graffiti and failed to take substantive action to protect its Jewish students. Several months later, when swastika graffiti appeared at the high school skate park in April 2025, district officials waited more than three weeks to alert police and families. The vague message prompted community members to condemn what they described as a “pattern of running out the clock” and call for greater transparency. “The district had multiple opportunities to address its hostile antisemitic environment and take corrective action, but failed again and again,” said Jenna Statfeld Harris, Senior Counsel, StandWithUs Saidoff Legal. “This failure caused deep harm not only to Jewish students left unprotected from relentless harassment, but also to the broader community, including peers who learned that such bigotry was tolerated. This normalization of antisemitism is fueling rising hostility and violence toward Jews across the United States.” The StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department is supporting the filing as a legal consultant. The filing argues these patterns constitute a systemic failure to comply with Title VI obligations to protect students from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, including antisemitism based on shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics. The complainants are calling on OCR to require Concord-Carlisle to implement a range of corrective measures, including: Incorporating the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism into school policies and trainings; Conducting annual training on antisemitism for all staff and students; Conducting a district-wide audit of Title VI compliance and incident response and update policies and procedures to ensure effective compliance and accurate reporting; and Issuing a clear, stand-alone statement denouncing antisemitism and affirming the school district’s commitment to address and prevent antisemitic harassment and retaliation. The complainants are urging federal officials to take swift and decisive action to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students in Concord-Carlisle. This case was referred through the K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line, a legal helpline run by ADL, the Brandeis Center, StandWithUs and several leading law firms to provide pro bono legal assistance to parents of students in K-12 school settings who are experiencing antisemitism. According to ADL’s most recent Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, there were 1,162 antisemitic incidents recorded in K-12 schools nationwide in 2023, followed by 860 incidents in 2024. Since 2020, the number of antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools has surged by an alarming 434%, underscoring a troubling national trend of increased targeting of Jewish students in educational environments. ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. More at www.adl.org The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is an independent, unaffiliated, nonprofit corporation established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. LDB engages in research, education, and legal advocacy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses, in the workplace, and elsewhere. It empowers students by training them to understand their legal rights and educates administrators and employers on best practices to combat racism and anti-Semitism. StandWithUs is an international, nonprofit, and non-partisan organization that works to educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism. Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs throughout the U.S., Israel, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Australia and the Netherlands.