TEMPE, AZ — A review by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights says the Kyrene School District failed to respond accordingly to anti-Semitic harassment that was months long and widespread, targeted against a female student.
The review found that the student was “subjected to months of harassment, both in school and on social media, by numerous classmates,” targeted at her Jewish heritage for at least five months.
The Office for Civil Rights says the district violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to respond accordingly to the harassment and also failed to provide a safe learning environment which caused the student to suffer "significant academic and emotional harm."
“Although the district confirmed that anti-Semitic harassment occurred on campus and in classrooms, including by finding that nine students had engaged in anti-Semitic harassment for several months, the district did not assess whether the verified, widespread harassment negatively impacted other students,” the review states. “The district did not take any school wide measures to address the anti-Semitic harassment until several months after confirming its existence, which allowed a potential hostile environment to persist in the school.”
As a result, the district has agreed to the following implementations moving forward:
"Addressing the student’s academic and counseling needs resulting from the harassment.
Reviewing and revising its policies and procedures to address Title VI’s prohibition of harassment based on race, color, or national origin, including shared ancestry, including by clarifying in its policies and procedures that the prohibition against harassment includes harassment based on Jewish ancestry.
Providing training to district staff regarding the district’s obligation to respond to complaints of harassment based on race, color, or national origin.
Providing age-appropriate information programs for students to address harassment based on race, color, or national origin. And,
Conducting a climate survey to assess the prevalence of harassment in the student’s former school and provide suggestions for effective ways to address harassment."
“As we see a distressing rise in reports of anti-Semitism on campuses across the country, I commend Kyrene School District #28 for committing today to take essential steps to ensure that no other students will have to suffer anti-Semitic harassment or other harassment based on their shared ancestry,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon.
The Kyrene School District released the following response to our request for a statement:
"Kyrene School District has reached a resolution with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding the anti-Semitic harassment of an 8th grade student on one of our campuses in the 2018-19 school year.
Kyrene holds the safety of students, both their physical safety and their social-emotional wellbeing, as the highest priority. Superintendent Laura Toenjes and the Kyrene Governing Board are dismayed that any student would be made to feel unsafe or unwelcome on a Kyrene campus.
“As a person of Jewish faith, I was deeply affected by this investigation,” said Superintendent Toenjes. “I will work very closely with our Board to ensure every student of every faith, every race, and every background feels safe, valued, and respected inside our schools.”
Action was taken in the 2018-19 school year to address the complaint with both students and staff, and students involved were held accountable for their in-school actions. However, the District is always striving to strengthen its commitment to non-discrimination, and much of the work required in the resolution is already underway in Kyrene. In May of this year, the Kyrene Governing Board approved the District’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy (ACB) [policy.azsba.org] so that every student in Kyrene will have a sense of belonging, without bias or discrimination.
“This work would happen regardless of the resolution in front of us today, but we are grateful for the opportunity to reflect, and we appreciate the guidance that will be offered by the Office for Civil Rights,” said Superintendent Toenjes.
The District has already begun developing a plan to directly address the resolution, and later this year, Kyrene will begin a comprehensive review of all District policies with an equity lens to ensure the District’s commitment to inclusion is consistent throughout its practices."
