Teachers Accuse Stoughton HS of Lack of Action Towards Anti-Semitic Incident

Originally published Jan. 27, 2017

STOUGHTON, MA — Stoughton teachers are accusing school officials of not properly responding to an anti-Semitic incident at Stoughton High School that Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi called an isolated incident.

John Gunning, the president of the Stoughton Teachers Association, told the school committee during their meeting Tuesday that multiple alleged anti-Semitic incidents occurred during the week of Thanksgiving, calling the response of the high school administration "woefully inadequate, especially when compared to the responses that occurred in other school districts."

Gunning alleged that staff urged Stoughton High School Principal Juliette Miller to inform the community of the incident, bring in the Anti-Defamation League for an educational program, and make an announcement on the school news program. None of that happened and teachers used their best judgment to address the issue with colleagues and students.

"Regrettably, some teachers are now facing disciplinary action by the Stoughton Public Schools for addressing the problem of an abhorrent anti-Semitic speech in Stoughton High School. The STA strongly condemns this maltreatment of its members and the injustice that has occurred," Gunning said.

The union told the Boston Globe that two teachers who spoke about the incident with students received letters of reprimand and a third teacher who rescinded a college letter of recommendation for the student who made the swastika received a suspension and will serve the suspension two days a week for 10 weeks.

Rizzi responded by stating that the people speaking about the issue did not know what they were talking about, telling the board there was one incident, not multiple. Her comments did not expand beyond a denial due to privacy issues.

"There are a lot of things I can't talk about and there are many things in this statement that the administration would absolutely not stipulate to the truth or veracity of. I would consider this to be an extremely irresponsible statement with a lot of misstatement of facts," Rizzi said." There were no issues that would rise to hate speech, hate activity, or a hate crime. To take something that's a minor incident and to attempt to call it that, one risks belittling actual hate crime. The escalation of the process has been harmful in a way the original incident has not and could not have been."

Committee member Molly Cochran said she was familiar with the incident and said the high school has taken the issue very seriously and acted appropriately.

"I do resent the implication that it hasn't been taken seriously and that the issue of anti-Semitism has not been treated with all the seriousness that it has been treated with," Cochran said. "To come forward in a public form is misleading to the response the high school had in this incident."

A statement released by Rizzi Friday called the incident an isolated one, writing that a student within a small group made a swastika out of tape while working on a project. The student was told by another student that it wasn't funny that he would remove it, which Rizzi said he did. The student that made the symbol then made a comment in an attempt to be funny but was found to be offensive. Another student reported the comments and the student was disciplined.

After consulting with police, it was determined that the incident was not hate speech or a hate crime.

"Hate speech is indicated by a pattern of behavior and a clear indication to do harm. There was no pattern of anti-Semitic behavior or speech and there was no intent to cause harm," Rizzi wrote.

A training session was held on Jan. 26 and Rizzi ended her letter assuring the community that Stoughton High School is a safe place for all students and staff.

Image: File Photo