School District of Philadelphia Agrees to Address Repeated Incidents of Antisemitism
New York, NY, December 20, 2024 … The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) has entered into a resolution agreement to take a series of steps to address repeated incidents of antisemitic harassment, bullying and discrimination in response to a federal civil rights complaint filed by ADL (the Anti-Defamation League).
Under the terms of the settlement announced yesterday, SDP will undertake a series of initiatives to ensure its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when responding to allegations of harassment based on shared ancestry. These initiatives, among others, include developing or revising reporting procedures for incidents of harassment, providing annual training to all administrators, faculty, and staff on Title VI’s prohibitions, administering climate assessments to all students grades 6-12, and providing age-appropriate informational programs for all 6th through 12th grade students district-wide to address discrimination.
This resolution agreement resolves the allegations raised by ADL, represented pro bono by the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, in a complaint filed in July 2024 with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The complaint alleged that SDP knowingly allowed its schools to become “viciously hostile” environments for Jewish students, while failing to address numerous incidents of antisemitic harassment, bullying, and discrimination.
“We are grateful for the Jewish students and parents who had the courage to speak out against the pattern of antisemitic harassment, abuse and bullying they were experiencing, said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “It is clear from the resolution that OCR identified multiple ways the SDP wholly failed to meet its Title VI obligations, and it is our hope that this resolution will ensure the District embraces a long-overdue commitment to preventing Jewish students from being harassed and targeted in the future.”
“We are proud to have stood alongside the ADL and a courageous group of Jewish families in calling out the severe and persistent harassment and discrimination facing Jewish students in the District over the last 14 months, said David Yolkut, Counsel, Mayer Brown LLP. “We are gratified by the OCR’s thorough investigation and detailed findings, and hopeful for a brighter day for Jewish students and their families.”
“We welcome this decision as a vital acknowledgment of the challenges faced by students and their families and are hopeful that the district's commitment to implementing much-needed measures will create a more inclusive environment where Jewish students, and indeed all students, can feel safe and supported in Philadelphia schools, said Andrew Goretsky, EdD, Regional Director ADL Philadelphia. “We look forward to seeing these commitments realized, ensuring that all students experience a sense of belonging and security in our educational institutions.”
According to the resolution agreement, The School District of Philadelphia has agreed to take the following actions to address and mitigate discrimination:
- Issue and widely disseminate an anti-harassment statement.
- Review its policies and procedures to ensure that they adequately address the Title VI prohibition on discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, including discrimination based on a student’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, revise its policies and procedures accordingly, and submit the revised policies and procedures for OCR’s approval.
- Develop or revise its procedure for documenting each report or complaint of harassment.
- Provide annual training to all administrators, faculty, and staff on Title VI’s prohibition of discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, including on the basis of shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics.
- Provide annual training to investigative staff to include a review of relevant district policies and procedures for complaints of discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, including harassment on the basis of shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, including instructions on how to conduct and document reliable and impartial investigations, a description of the steps the district will take in response to harassing behavior, and a statement that a student or parent/guardian must be provided with notice of the steps the district is taking in response to the notification.
- Provide an age-appropriate information program for all 6th through 12th grade students to address discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, including harassment based on shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics.
- Review its response to reports of discrimination and/or harassment on the basis of shared ancestry received during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years to ensure that the district made a determination regarding whether the alleged conduct created a hostile environment within the district’s education program or activities.
- Conduct an audit of each school that serves any students in grades ranging from 6th through 12th grades to review the consistency of the application of and compliance with the district’s policies and procedures regarding non-discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, including harassment on the basis of shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics for the 2024-2025 school year.
- Administer a climate assessment to all students enrolled in the 6th through 12th grade after OCR reviews and approves the assessment, provide OCR with a report regarding its findings and steps taken in response to the findings, and promptly and fully address OCR’s feedback. And,
- Retain or designate one or more consultants with expertise on the issue of harassment of students based on national origin, including shared ancestry, to assist in the development and delivery of training and the climate survey, and any other actions to prevent and address discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin, including discrimination against Jews on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Under the law, harassing, marginalizing, demonizing, and excluding Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity is unlawful.
Since Oct. 7, ADL has filed several similar civil rights and legal complaints against other public school districts for creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, including the Berkeley Unified School District and the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD).
ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. More at www.adl.org.
As the first major law firm to develop and implement a pro bono strategic plan, Mayer Brown has long deployed its considerable resources to offer access to the justice system and confront systemic problems around the world where it can have a major impact. Visit: https://www.mayerbrown.com.