Antisemitism In Westport: Parent Calls Out School District

WESTPORT, CT — In a lengthy post in Newsweek's "My Turn" column, Westport parent Andrew Goldberg, a documentary filmmaker and journalist, chronicles antisemitic bullying his son has endured, and calls out the School District for what he claims was an inadequate response.

As Goldberg tells it, for two years, his 12-year-old son has had to endure antisemitic taunts from a classmate about "Camp Auschwitz," and the classmate repeatedly hurling the phrase at the boy, "We must exterminate the Jews!"

After Goldberg approached the district about the bullying, he says administrators gave his son a "safety plan" designed to help the child feel protected.

"Among other things, he could sit at another lunch table," Goldberg wrote. "He could see a trusted adult if he felt unsafe. Later, we were told of some assigned seating and class partners.

"But I didn't think that anything I saw in the safety plan—or any of their communications—addressed the antisemitism and bigotry, or how to use this as a teachable moment for students and faculty. Instead, the safety plan seemed to just be different ways my son could move around the building."

The situation grew so bad, according to Goldberg, that he and his wife eventually enrolled their son in a private Jewish school.

The Goldbergs and the district went back-and-forth over a financial settlement, to help defray the costs of the private school, but ultimately the talks broke down because they would have been forced to stay silent about the whole thing, he says.

"We agreed as a family that being silent about the cruel experience of what happened to us and to our son was not something we would sell to the Westport Public Schools District," Goldberg wrote.

In a message to parents late last week, Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice responded to the Newsweek column, and said that the district, with the help of the Connecticut ADL and local rabbis Michael Friedman and Jeremy Wiederhorn, will host a Community Conversation in January.

"Let me be clear, antisemitism is vile and is never tolerated in our schools," Scarice wrote. "When we receive reports of antisemitism, including those described in the article, we always respond and take action to keep our students safe and issue appropriate consequences, including discipline."

Scarice did not directly address the concerns that Goldberg raised, but pointed to a story on Dan Woog's 06880 news blog that goes into more detail about how the district responds to similar incidents.

"We will continue to be vigilant in the face of antisemitism and all other forms of hate," Scarice wrote. "Of course, there’s always more work to be done. We ask that you continue to share any concerns you have with members of our administrative team."