Anti-Semitic bullying reported at Davidson charter school leads to policy changes (Queen City News, North Carolina)

DAVIDSON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS; June 5, 2024) — A Davidson charter school has agreed to make changes around harassment and training after a complaint was filed that detailed a student enduring anti-Semitic bullying from classmates.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint on behalf of the Community School of Davidson student and his family in August of 2023. It says the seventh-grader faced the remarks for two school years. 

The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and centered around harassment that occurred between August 2021 through May 2023. 

It also stated that CSD’s teachers and even administrators knew about the harassment.

In documents obtained by Queen City News, the complaint alleged that the student, who is non-Jewish, was bullied by classmates after he wore an Israeli Olympic jersey of his favorite Major League Baseball player. 

The complaint described “vicious anti-Semitic” comments directed at the middle schooler that also occurred during a class lecture about the Holocaust. 

The child was said to have been “distressed and isolated by the daily abuse and degradation he endured.” 

In March of 2023, he notified his mother who reported it to the school administration.   

It was later reported in findings by the Office for Civil Rights that CSD asked “the teacher to increase their supervision of the students involved and conducted interviews with the students identified.” 

However, “there is no evidence that after substantiating that harassing conduct occurred in March 2023, the School took steps to address the harassment with the Student to mitigate its effects.” 

CSD released a statement to Queen City News regarding the complaint:

“The Community School of Davidson (“CSD”) was built on the founding principles of community and inclusion. Our mission is to provide an optimal environment for learning in which teachers and parents work together to create an inclusive environment for all students. We abide by all federal and state anti-discrimination laws and will continue to do so. All complaints received by CSD are investigated in accordance with CSD’s policies and procedures, as well as federal and state laws and regulations. 

“With regard to the complaint filed with OCR, CSD voluntarily entered into a resolution agreement with OCR. OCR made no findings of any wrongdoing on the part of CSD. Instead, CSD agreed to bolster trainings, policies, and routine school activities to ensure the necessary safeguards are implemented to protect all students and staff from discrimination, harassment, and bullying or any perception of the same.“

However, in its analysis of how the school handled its investigation into the complaint the Office of Civil Rights did name instances of “failure.” 

OCR stated it found evidence to show the student was harassed, thereby creating a “hostile environment,” and that “OCR is concerned that the School failed to consistently take prompt and effective steps to redress the environment.

It was also discovered that the school did not properly document its investigation which could have led to the school not properly identifying the hostile environment which led to future abuse. 

Read the full analysis of the findings here.

Before the investigation was complete, OCR and CSD entered into an agreement that included better training for educators to identify instances of hate speech, proper documentation of investigations into these matters, and a future assessment of the climate on campus in the first quarter of 2024-2025. 

Read the settlement here.

The OCR will also follow up with the school to ensure the changes are in place.