Anti-Semitic Harassment At Monmouth County School District: OAG

MONMOUTH COUNTY – A Monmouth County school district failed to address harassment when a Jewish student received an anti-Semitic cell phone photo, was shunned as a “snitch” after her father reported it to the school principal and eventually transferred, according to the Office of Attorney General.

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Division on Civil Rights announced this week that the state is taking the Monmouth County Vocational School District to task over its alleged failure to sufficiently address the anti-Semitic harassment of a Jewish student.

In a June 2018 complaint, a parent alleged that her daughter, a minor at the time, was subjected to unlawful discrimination based on religion at the district-run Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) high school, according to the OAG release.

Located at Sandy Hook, MAST maintains a curriculum focused on marine sciences and marine technology/engineering.

In her complaint, the parent alleged that her daughter’s fellow students engaged in anti-Semitic harassment aimed at her daughter on a regular basis over the course of her three years at the school, the release said.

Those incidents included an April 2018 incident during which two male students wrote “I H8 JEWS” in large letters in the sand at a school-sponsored event, and then circulated a photo of one of them laying on the ground next to the message, the release said.

The complainant said her daughter was extremely upset by the image when she received it over text, as well as by student comments that followed, including one suggesting the picture be used as the cover for the yearbook.

After the girl’s father notified school officials of the photograph and group messages, the complaint alleges, the girl was harassed and derided as a “snitch” by her fellow students, was shunned during the school day and outside of school, the release said.

A statement was released by Monmouth County Superintendent Timothy M. McCorkell:

"The Monmouth County Vocational School District is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students. We do not tolerate harassment based on religion, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression, or any other distinguishing characteristic of our students. When we learned of the April 2018 anti-Semitic incident at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, the District took immediate action and suspended the students involved. In addition, the District took action to address the school environment and ensure that MAST is safe, and free of harassment, intimidation and bullying. We take the Division on Civil Rights' finding very seriously, and fully cooperated with its the investigation. We look forward to utilizing the DCR adjudication process to complete the inquiry into these events."

According to the investigation, MAST did investigate the beach photo incident and subsequently imposed four-day, out-of-school suspensions on the two students responsible. The school also imposed a two-day suspension on the student who commented that the photo should be used as the yearbook cover, the OAG release said.

However, the state says that, aside from imposing discipline in connection with the beach photo incident, “it does not appear the school took any broader actions to discern the extent of anti-Semitic behavior at the school, or to address the reported concerns,” the release said.

The complaint filed by the girl’s mother alleges that her daughter enrolled at MAST as a freshman and was subjected to a climate of anti-Semitism for three years before transferring out of the school for her senior year.
Among other allegations, the mother’s complaint alleges that:

• During her daughter’s sophomore year, her fellow students drew swastikas on cafeteria lunch tables and on their notebooks;
• Students publicly read Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” during “read” periods in class, even though the book was not an assigned part of the curriculum; and
• A rock with the word “Adolf” written on it was placed on top of a water cooler directly behind the girl’s assigned seat in English class.

In an interview, the teacher explained that once she was made aware that the rock said “Adolf,” she disposed of it on a pile of rocks behind her classroom, but did not report the incident.

“Our schools are there to provide a safe and nurturing environment in which our young people can learn and grow,” said Grewal. “Hate and harassment have no place in our schools, and it’s ultimately the responsibility of school officials to ensure that their schools offer a learning environment that is not hostile to individuals with any particular religious background or other protected characteristics.”

The beach incident “may have been part of a broader pattern of anti-semitic conduct at MAST that called for broader institutional actions on the part of the school,” the state notes, and by not undertaking such actions, the school may “have not acted reasonably” under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), the release said.