Federal complaint alleges ‘rampant’ antisemitism at Acton-Carlisle High School

The Anti-Defamation League and other groups want the federal government to take action at Acton-Carlisle High School, alleging that administrators’ mishandling of antisemitic abuse allowed the targeting of Jewish students and forced at least one to transfer out of the district.

The ADL, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, and the Mayer Brown law firm filed their brief with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Monday.

The advocates want the federal government to require “corrective measures” because they say that without such intervention, the district will not act to address antisemitism or “protect its Jewish students from a climate of hostility and retaliation.” 

The complaint said that school administrators failed to bring a halt to a torrent of hateful incidents that included students fielding anti-Jewish slurs and later physical threats. The complaint alleges that school officials also scapegoated a student who spoke up about being targeted.

Asked to respond to the complaint, schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter said CCHS “does not tolerate antisemitic acts between its students.”

In an email to The Acton Bridge, Hunter said “every report is fully investigated and addressed swiftly and seriously.”

Hunter didn’t address the specific allegations in the federal complaint, which included descriptions of students giving Nazi salutes and using antisemitic slurs.

As the Office for Civil Rights considers the filing, Hunter said the district is cooperating and “always looking for feedback on how to enhance our policies, processes, and programs.” 

But the complainants said school officials have often fallen short in their responses to prior incidents and skewered a lack of accountability or repercussions.

“This was not an isolated case, and there is clear evidence that this was — and remains — a systemic issue,” said ADL New England Regional Director Samantha Joseph. 

Hateful incidents

The ADL, the Brandeis Center, and Mayer Brown released a redacted copy of their joint brief. It details incidents beginning at Acton Middle School and continuing until the student’s family switched the teen to a private school “to escape the uncontrolled anti-semitic bullying and retaliation he experienced as a student at Acton-Carlisle.”

The student left CCHS during the 2024-25 school year. He was in tenth grade.

Among other points, the 24-page document alleges that: 

• One student often asked the target of the harassment “to roll up his sleeve and check for his ‘Holocaust tattoo.’” 
• While playing soccer, the brief said, peers harassed the student “by creating teams named ‘Team Al Qaeda,’ ‘Team Hitler,’ ‘Team Auschwitz,’ and ‘Team Hamas.’” 
• One bully would allegedly show pictures of gas chambers and reference Anne Frank. Asked why he was bullying the student who eventually left the school, the complaint said, the bully responded: “Because [he] is a Jew.” 

Parents compiled a list of abusive language directed at their son, according to the brief. During a meeting last February, the complaint said, district Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Director Andrew Nyamekye characterized one notorious antisemitic slur, “k—”, as “merely a ‘microaggression.’”

Nyamekye did not respond to Bridge questions about his alleged “microaggression” comment.

When administrators investigated and disciplined a bully, the filing said they made the student “even more of a target” for “snitching” on his classmates and didn’t address the root causes of the abuse. 

“At bottom, the district refused to acknowledge that antisemitism and hate speech were running rampant in the high school, and instead treated individual incidents as interpersonal conflicts that somehow always involved [the same Jewish student],” the brief said. 

As the abuse continued in late September, the complaint said, administrators decided to “isolate and remove the Jewish victim from the classroom and all other social settings” by offering independent studies with his current English and Latin teachers and virtual classes in other subjects. 

The complaint said the decision was part of a “safety plan.”

The “inequity of that approach was obvious to [the student] and his parents,” the brief said.

Beyond the student who withdrew from CCHS, the brief criticized the pace of responses to antisemitic graffiti discovered at CCHS last fall and earlier this year. 

Advocates’ requests

Among its requests, the recent brief asks: 

• The Office for Civil Rights to require annual staff and student training on antisemitism. 
• An audit of CCHS’ compliance with federal Title VI, which bans race-based discrimination in programs that get federal funding. 
• A “stand-alone statement denouncing antisemitism and affirming the school district’s commitment to address and prevent antisemitic harassment and retaliation.”

‘Not business as usual’

CCHS School Committee chair Tracey Marano said the panel had “nothing further to add” to Hunter’s statement when reached Tuesday. 

Hunter noted the district’s “thorough response protocols,” an anonymous reporting system, and ongoing student and staff training. 

The superintendent also said the district has “strong relationships with local Jewish faith leaders” and that officials regularly survey students, families, and staff “to ensure there is ongoing information about students’ feelings of belonging in our schools.” 

Kerem Shalom synagogue president David Luberoff said he couldn’t comment on the filing since Kerem Shalom leaders hadn’t had a chance to review it. 

“However, I can say that we must take antisemitic incidents seriously because, if left unchecked, antisemitic graffiti and statements (like any hateful speech), can easily turn into damaging, potentially violent actions,” Luberoff told The Bridge via email on Tuesday. 

He said responding to these cases requires “robust, [h]olistic approaches that not only bring together town and school officials but also involve a wider array of community leaders and residents.” 

Kerem Shalom leaders have met with school officials to discuss recent incidents. Later this month, Luberoff said, they will meet again with administrators and police “to discuss how to prevent and respond to any future incidents.”

The federal complaint against Acton-Carlisle comes just weeks after The Bridge reported how the schools delayed notifying police about a swastika discovered at the CCHS skate park this spring.

Last fall, CCHS dealt with a spate of hateful graffiti in bathrooms. 

Town DEI Commission Co-Chair Nancy Brown told The Bridge via email Tuesday night that the panel “is on record expressing our deep concern about antisemitic incidents in Acton. We intend to work with the many entities and residents of Acton who are addressing this serious problem. Antisemitism has no place in our community.”

Select Board member Paul Boehm has called for more transparency following slow school responses. In an email Tuesday, he said he hadn’t seen the brief, but remains concerned. 

Boehm noted a subset of Select Board goals focused on building “civility, tolerance, and inclusion.” 

“There is work to be done,” he said. “This is not business as usual.” 

Trace Salzbrenner contributed reporting.

Tuesday, 10:53 p.m.: This story has been updated.