The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received a brief from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday, claiming that the Concord-Carlisle public school district had neglected to shield Jewish students from widespread antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
At least one Jewish student left the district to avoid the hostile environment, according to the ADL, which filed the brief to document an alarming pattern of antisemitic bullying, slurs, threats, and retaliation at Concord-Carlisle High School and Concord Middle School. The ADL filed the brief with the assistance of a pro bono team at the Mayer Brown legal firm and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under legal.
According to the ADL’s statement, school and district officials failed to take prompt or effective action to protect a Jewish student who was being harassed, allowed escalating retaliation against the student, and repeatedly ignored persistent patterns of antisemitic abuse. Despite allegedly receiving a large number of allegations over several academic years, officials failed to address the root causes of antisemitic sentiments within the school community.
It took time for Concord-Carlisle’s hostile atmosphere to develop. Samantha Joseph, regional director of ADL New England, stated in the statement that it was permitted to establish itself and endure. In order to stop hate from spreading, the district must implement clear procedures to deal with antisemitism, offer advice on reporting and responding to such instances, and encourage education and awareness.
Joseph continued by saying that even though the brief only mentions one particular instance, the evidence suggests that the abuse was not an isolated incidence and instead refers to a larger systemic problem. According to the ADL, the abuse in the instance of the student who left the district was frequently minimized or denied, and officials allegedly disregarded his family’s requests to denounce the harassment.
Concord Dr. Laurie Hunter, the superintendent of Concord-Carlisle, stated in a statement that Carlisle High School does not accept antisemitic behavior among its pupils. Every report is thoroughly examined and dealt with promptly and seriously. An anonymous reporting mechanism, comprehensive response procedures, and continual staff and student training are all features of the schools.
According to the ADL, the reported abuse included pupils shouting antisemitic obscenities, drawing swastikas on school property, giving Nazi salutes in the hallways, and splitting into teams dubbed Team Auschwitz and Team Hamas during sporting events.
According to the statement, the harassment allegedly affected at least seven distinct children in the district, but administrators handled each instance as a separate interpersonal dispute rather than acknowledging that it was a component of a hostile atmosphere that needed a more comprehensive response.
In one case, instead of assisting the offenders, authorities allegedly suggested removing the Jewish student from the classroom and placing them in independent studies. In another instance, the ADL said that the district’s director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging minimized the use of an antisemitic slur as a microaggression.
In the statement, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and Brandeis Center chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Marcus said, “The unrelenting nature of these attacks is a clear sign of an environment of hate and fear, one where no student would be set up for success.” Officials at Concord-Carlisle put the status quo ahead of the safety of Jewish pupils, flagrantly ignoring a startling trend of antisemitism.
The petition also claims that despite the district’s frequent condemnations of antisemitism, their hollow public declarations merely served to encourage greater abuse. According to the ADL, these trends show a systematic disregard for Title VI’s requirements to shield students from ancestry and ethnic discrimination.
Swastikas were discovered in school restrooms in late 2024, yet they resurfaced at the high school skate park in April 2025, illustrating the diluted response. The ADL claims that the district waited more than three weeks to notify police and families about the swastikas discovered at the skate park and failed to take significant action when they were discovered in the restrooms.
Jenna Statfeld Harris, senior lawyer at StandWithUs Saidoff Legal, said in the statement that the district had numerous chances to address its hostile antisemitic climate and take corrective action, but kept failing. This failure deeply harmed the community at large, including peers who discovered that such intolerance was accepted, in addition to the Jewish students who were left vulnerable to constant harassment. Anger and violence against Jews are on the rise in the US as a result of the normalization of antisemitism.
According to the statement, the complainants are requesting that OCR update Title VI policies and procedures, provide antisemitism training for staff and students, integrate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism into school policies, and release a clear, stand-alone statement condemning antisemitism.
To coordinate its efforts to combat antisemitism in the Concord community and schools, the district maintains close contacts with local Jewish faith leaders in a number of localities, according to Hunter. To make sure we have up-to-date data on students’ sense of belonging in our schools, we poll students, families, and staff on a regular basis. We collaborate with the Office for Civil Rights and are constantly seeking input on how to improve our programs, procedures, and policies.
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