Scarice: Community Conversation Planned; Vigilance Needed

Yesterday, superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice sent a message to all Westport Public School parents. He wrote:

My apologies for the late timing of my message below. I wanted to be certain that the school community heard directly from me before the weekend.

As many of you are aware, an article circulated Thursday with a Westport parent’s account of antisemitic bullying directed at their child.

This comes at a time when there is a frightening rise in antisemitic incidents in our country. I know this, and am deeply saddened that our Jewish community is understandably feeling so vulnerable.

Let me be clear: antisemitism is vile, and is never tolerated in our schools.

When we receive reports of antisemitism, including those described in the article, we always respond and take action to keep our students safe and issue appropriate consequences, including discipline.

While we do all we can to teach our students about the impact of their words and actions, incidents do occur. For more information about how we address these matters, please see my comments on the “06880” blog.

Today, I spoke with the director of the Connecticut ADL, as well as Rabbis Friedman (Temple Israel) and Wiederhorn (The Conservative Synagogue). They shared with me how members of the Jewish community are feeling, and we had a chance to talk about what we can do moving forward.

As one important step, I am looking forward to joining them in a community conversation next month. I also look forward to continuing these conversations with other members of our community.

We will continue to be vigilant in the face of antisemitism and all other forms of hate. Of course, there’s always more work to be done. We ask that you continue to share any concerns you have with members of our administrative team.