The U.S. Department of Education is sanctioning a school district in Northern California after administrators there allegedly failed to take appropriate action in more than 15 racist and anti-Semitic incidents that were reported on the campuses between 2021 and 2024.
The federal agency’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on July 26 sent a letter to the Carmel Unified School District Superintendent Sharon Ofek summarizing its investigation of the incidents in question, which included nine instances where racist and anti-Semitic writings/drawings appeared in bathrooms, locker rooms, and on school supplies during the 2021-2022 academic year that the district failed to document. The district is now required to create a new system for identifying and reporting incidents, communicating with parents and students about this type of unacceptable behavior, and training all employees on the latest procedures, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education.
“Carmel Unified School District has committed to ensuring that all of its students, including its Jewish students, can learn safely and without discriminatory harassment in its schools,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in the July 26 news release. “OCR will work with the district in the coming years to protect students’ federal civil rights.”
A 2021 incident resulted in a suspension after a swastika was observed on a student’s skin, but names, grade levels, and other details in the OCR’s letter were redacted, so it’s unclear if that student drew it on themselves or the skin of another student. The same year, a teacher unknowingly handed a student a ruler containing an offensive word and symbol. District personnel never determined who defaced the ruler and did not provide the OCR with any documentation affirming that support services were offered to students who might have been traumatized by these incidents, according to OCT’s letter to the district.
A district anti-hate speech task force made up of students, staff, and administrators was established following the 2021 incidents. Still, episodes continued despite several meetings and an established plan for addressing the ongoing problem, according to the letter. It said Swastikas and the letters “SS” were discovered on two classroom desks in 2022. The perpetrators were never caught, prompting one student to speak up at the Board of Education meeting and complain that school officials just recited the same “five-minute spiel” in response to the incidents—that hate speech is not tolerated and punishable by suspension or expulsion. The student told the board there were no school-wide meetings, policy statements, or educational presentations on the issue.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, there were a total of six incidents that ranged from more swastikas on school property to a complaint from a parent noting that a boy told her daughter he “wanted to kill all Jews and burn them in their homes.” The complainants did not request a response from the district, so an investigation or report was never opened, the letter said.
In 2024, teachers confronted a student after observing him drawing a swastika in class. The student replied that he did not know what the symbol meant, and an assistant principal later explained the symbol’s history before issuing that student a warning, the letter said.
“OCR found that during the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 school years, the school took notice of multiple instances of swastikas or other antisemitic vandalism, an incident in which a student made a reference to Hitler, and one in which another student commented on harming Jews, that created a hostile environment based on shared Jewish ancestry for students, and that the district failed to take prompt and effective steps to address it…..” the letter said.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Carmel Unified School District but has not yet received a response.
The Carmel Unified School District (CUSD) is located in an affluent area on the Monterrey Peninsula.
Rabbi Bruce Greenbaum said his synagogue, Carmel Beth Israel, serves about 250 families on the peninsula, including students, parents, and CUSD employees. He said he spoke with the superintendent and is satisfied with her response to this situation. Ofek is viewed as being upfront about how she has handled this matter based on the information available to her and communicated well with parents, students, and school officials.
“She really has been above board,” Greenbaum said in an Aug. 1 interview with The Epoch Times.
Greenbaum has a standing offer to conduct a high school assembly on antisemitism. Following a 2022 incident, he delivered a presentation on that topic for middle school students and felt like he made an impact. Several students sent him thank-you letters noting what they learned during the presentation.
Greenbaum said as far as he knows, all the perpetrators of the racist and antisemitic acts have not been caught yet. While the conduct is limited to a few kids, he added, the more recent incidents probably were inspired by the campus protests throughout California.
“I think they are just a few kids who are ignorant and acting out,” he said. “They think it’s cool to be part of a group that protests but don’t really understand the situation. It’s unfortunate.”
