US Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon attending a meeting at the United Nations Office at Geneva. c. 2013. Photo: Eric Bridiers/ U.S. Mission Geneva

The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has ruled that Kyrene School District in Arizona violated the civil rights of a Jewish student who was harassed by antisemitic bullies for months.

DOE’s ruling, announced on Tuesday, resolves a complaint filed on behalf of a female, Jewish eighth-grader who complained to a school principal that several students called her antisemitic slurs, including “dirty Jew,” “stinky Jew,” and “filthy Jew.”

In her presence, students also joked about the Holocaust, pretended to speak in German, and goose-stepped while pantomiming the Sieg Heil salute.

“Although the district confirmed that antisemitic harassment occurred on campus and in classrooms, including by finding that nine students had engaged in antisemitic harassment for several months, the district did not assess whether the verified, widespread harassment negatively impacted other students,” OCR said in a press release. “The harassment the student experienced and the district’s failure to provide the student with a safe school environment caused her to suffer significant and enduring academic and emotional harm.”

OCR added that Kyrene School District subjected the student to a “hostile environment that was sufficiently persistent, or pervasive, that it interfered with the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s program.”

As part of its agreement with the agency, Kyrene has committed to providing the Jewish student with counseling, updating its anti-discrimination policies to explicitly include antisemitism, and training its employees in best practices for responding to complaints of all discrimination based on “race, color, and national origin.” The district will also educate students about discrimination and conduct a “climate survey” at the student’s school to “assess the prevalence of harassment” there.

Commenting on the agreement on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said, “As we see a distressing rise in reports of antisemitism on campuses across the country, I commend Kyrene School District #28 for committing today to take essential steps to ensure that no other students will have to suffer antisemitic harassment based on their shared ancestry.”

In a statement provided to The Algemeiner, Kyrene School District Superintendent Laura Toenjes said that her own Jewish faith caused her to feel “deeply affected by this investigation.”

“I will work very closely with our board to ensure every student of every faith, every race, and every background feels safe, valued, and respected inside our school,” she continued. “This work would happen regardless of the resolution in front of us today, but we are grateful for the opportunity to reflect, and we appreciate the guidance that will be offered by the Office for Civil Rights.”

Kyrene School District also confirmed that all students and staff identified by the student have been punished. It added that its governing board adopted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy in May and that anti-discrimination policies across the district will soon be reviewed to “ensure the district’s commitment to inclusion is consistent throughout its practices.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated.