StandWithUs Alleges Dallas School District Retaliated Against Jewish Student

The pro-Israel education group StandWithUs sent a letter to the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) on July 16 alleging that district employees have retaliated against at least one Jewish student for filing a complaint to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights accusing the district of inadequately handling antisemitic incidents on campus.

The original OCR complaint, filed in April by StandWithUs and a Jewish student, alleged that teachers at Hillcrest High School witnessed incidents such as the words “dirty Jew” and “filthy k—” being used and did nothing about them; there were also reported instances of swastikas being drawn in bathroom stalls, one of which had the words “Burn the Jews” scrawled near it. The complaint alleged that district administrators vowed to implement antisemitism training for staff members, only to instead provide “anti-racism” training as antisemitic incidents continue at the campus largely unabated.

StandWithUs alleged that the Jewish student who co-filed the complaint “overheard both students and teachers lamenting the antisemitism-related complaint” and that during one of the student’s classes, a teacher “specifically mentioned the complaint, insinuated it had something to do with him, and then launched into an off-color, one-sided discussion about Islam and Israel. When co-Complainant tried to engage in a productive discussion, the teacher shut him down. Our understanding is that this same teacher is the co-Complainant assigned advisor next year.”

The student also alleged that he reported to a proctor during a standardized tests that there were “loud and disruptive” students who were cheating; at this point, Assistant Principal Veronica Aguiñaga “was called to the room and forced co-Complainant to sign a statement about the cheating even though he said he did not feel comfortable. To make matters worse, co-Complainant and his parents were meeting later that day about the incident with Principal [Terrence] Florie, Assistant Principal Aguiñaga physically pushed co-Complainant out of the room, telling him to let the adults talk and advising him to keep his mouth shut.

“When students are repeatedly etching and spray-painting swastikas around a school, that is either a sign of pure ignorance and or something more malicious.”

These alleged incidents, StandWithUs contended, are “unjustified punishment and threats against a student who had just bravely submitted a report to the Office of Civil Rights … When students are repeatedly etching and spray-painting swastikas around a school, that is either a sign of pure ignorance and or something more malicious. Either way, it should be a wake-up call to administrators and teachers to act, to educate, to engage the students in a discussion about hate speech and symbols of hate.” The pro-Israel education group added that “Jewish students and families will continue to feel sidelined, silenced and/or bullied” but there are plenty of “tremendous resources” available for the district to use to change the campus climate. StandWithUs concluded their letter urging the district to meet with them and work together “to turn these instances of ignorance and hate into opportunities of understanding and growth.”

The district, Florie and Aguiñaga did not immediately respond to the Journal’s requests for comment.