This morning, “06880” posted a letter from Rabbi Cantor Shirah Sklar, regarding Andrew Goldberg’s Newsweek story about his son’s experience with antisemitism in middle school.
Westport Board of Education chair Lee Goldstein responds:
As a member of the Westport Jewish community and chair of the Board of Education, I personally feel the real and understandable fear, anger and anguish many Jews are currently experiencing.
I am also deeply troubled by the rabbi’s letter today on “06880.”
I feel compelled to respond publicly, because the compassionate, professional teachers and administrators who run our school district and support our children are being unjustly accused of ignoring antisemitism.
Lee Goldstein
No one should minimize the pain that antisemitic bullying causes – and no one did that here. If we are going to fight antisemitism, we must encourage people to report it, and we know they won’t unless they trust us to respond and take action.
In this situation, our administration did just that. Our educators not only followed all applicable laws, policies, and procedures, they also worked respectfully and compassionately with all the families involved to try to reach acceptable solutions and address with sensitivity the interactions among minor children.
For good – but very frustrating – reasons, under federal law only individuals directly responsible for the education and safety of our students can be privy to details of student incidents. All schools are legally bound to protect the privacy of all students and families. I would like to say I wish that the rabbi had reached out to the district before publishing her letter, but the hard truth is that even if she had, we could not have shared any additional information.
In this case, our team gathered the facts; considered the needs, feelings, and well-being of the children involved, and implemented appropriate safety measures, supports and corrective actions, including consequences.
At a time when some leaders may hide behind jargon and policies, that is not what we are doing. We prohibit antisemitism and take action against it, including in this matter. I fear that accusing people of ignoring or minimizing antisemitism without having all the facts will make matters worse.
In partnership with ADL and other experts, we will continue to engage with the community, combat antisemitism, and do all we can to prevent and respond to incidents when they occur.
The importance of these steps cannot be overstated. I have great faith in our Westport Public Schools and broader community to learn from these challenges and come together to lead the way in the fight against antisemitism.
Very simple question that requires a simple response…. did the town and/or BOE require/demand that this harmed family sign an nda in any form? If the answer is yes, you should all resign. You guys did not want anybody this public seemingly to CYA. YOU can hide behind whatever legal language you want but we all seem to see what happened here.
Board of Ed members outside of the Chair were only informed after the article came out. (Per Robert Harrington)
I think people understand the confidentiality that individual students are entitled to. I thought it was a obvious that the school system can’t discuss disciplinary action that was taken against the individual student involved.
I’m not sure why the school system and board are conflating this student and his privacy rights and general policy and plans for responding to antisemitism individually, and as a school community now and in the future.
I think why myself and many others remain frustrated are statements like this: “In partnership with ADL and other experts, we will continue to engage with the community, combat antisemitism, and do all we can to prevent and respond to incidents when they occur.”
What does this mean? Engage the community how? Combat antisemitism in what way? Respond how?
The board can certainly lay out how future antisemitic incidents would be dealt with without violating the privacy rights of the current student involved.
I see why people are so disappointed in the response of the school system and the board.
Thank you for your fast response. And one with additional information.
You mentioned consequences in your post. Without revealing any specifics of this situation what are the general guidelines and actions that local school officials would take in another case of antisemitic bullying. After investigating are the parents of the offending child notified and counseled, what is the timeline for completing the investigation and taking action, when should the board be notified and if there are physical threats or violence are the police informed.
It would help transparency if the community knew the guidelines and in this case were they met.
Without violating the privacy rights of the offending child or children and clearly without revealing their names, why can’t the BOE tell the public that this bullying led to a suspension ( or whatever the consequences were). And, why couldn’t Mr Scalice simply offer a public apology to the Goldberg family for what they endured.
Your responses remind me of 3 Ivy League presidents’ responses and we all know how well that worked out.
Is this your personal response or the board? If not the board, I would like to know if the entire BOE will respond together in collaborative effort condemning any and all antisemitism in the public schools.
Asking the family to sign a non disclosure document was a huge mistake! I’ve never heard of a school system offering to pay for one year’s tuition as long as the family agreed never to talk about the incident or money! Maybe it’s time for the Superintendent to be replaced!
“ In this case, our team gathered the facts; considered the needs, feelings, and well-being of the children involved, and implemented appropriate safety measures, supports and corrective actions, including consequences.”
I read this line as the consequences in this situation were simply an afterthought. There doesn’t appear to be a dispute over whether the “Camp Auschwitz showers” joke happened or the “Shoot the Jew” comment happened. If one or the other was a teachable moment, then the lesson clearly didn’t get through when the second incident happened. The consequences were effectively the Jew had to leave CMS, and the bully got to switch cohorts within his grade. That is literally CONDONING anti-semitism.
The reasoning for no action after the mock-beheading viral video was that it occurred off school grounds. This occurred in the CMS lunchroom.
Still waiting to hear what made the Camp Auschwitz joke so amusing.
We are at a point where we can’t tell adolescents that Camp Auschwitz jokes and Shoot the Jew jokes are inappropriate cause it might hurt their feelings. This is both insane and immoral. If insane is doing the same thing and expecting different results, then it sounds like we should expect this to happen over and over again.
At least we’ve prepared one bully to be a future President of Harvard someday.
Is anybody reassured by the way the town officials, including Lee Goldstein have been obfuscating the actual ways in which the school board has handled this recent antisemitic event? Instead, they obfuscate with phrases like the following that are virtually meaningless. “All applicable policies, “considered needs and feelings” “implemented appropriate safety measures, supports and corrective actions, including consequences.” Word pablum all. Surely no privacy concerns are at risk, if those in charge would tell us what specific policies are considered in all cases of antisemitic behavior or speech. Aren’t we entitled to know what kinds of safety measures are taken, and what consequences, for instance are considered?
The Board of Education has now established a policy precedent that future victims of anti-Semitic behavior should seek further education elsewhere, possibly with a coupon if they are quiet. This needs to change YESTERDAY.
I hope that’s not true because that is disturbing.
Not so DEI now is it? Guiding criteria? If you feel some sort of antisemitism, go some where else.
I really hope that’s not true.
The ADL suggests that we tell the DEI to teach about anti semitism. The ADL did not suggest blaming DEI or dismantling it altogether. The ADL is indeed involved in teaching Westport teachers how to teach about anti- Semitism.
I found it encouraging they are involved in Westport Schools!
I found the ADL presentation last night interesting insofar as it put important numbers around the growth in anti-Semitic incidents within CT and the nation, but there was a lot of information missing.
For example, on Pyramid of Hate which begins with biased attitudes and escalates up to genocide, my notes didn’t show where the town should respond to “Shoot the Jew” games with hush money payments. Imagine a 12yo seeking adult assistance with anti-Semitic taunts and bullying only to be met with a “stay in this corner of the lunchroom or get lost.” This is one way to make sure future incidents never get reported. By the way, in this case the bullying was already off the bottom layer into Acts of Bias.
I do wonder if it was the ADL that recommended the bully be moved into a different CMS cohort.
Are you against the ADL too?! Jeez! Wow! Are you voting for Trump the biggest bully of all with zero accountability for said bullying and hate? You are holding kids, children, to a higher standard than someome who was president and running for president again.
Unless you support Nikki Haley, I am not sure you have business addressing bullying.
So those who bullied stay, and the victim who was bullied leaves? Are you friggin kidding me!! And the bullies are protected, as well as the school system by a non disclosure document! I’ve been in education since 1970 and I’m still certified, in multiple areas, in Connecticut and I’m telling you that this is atrocious!
And somehow sending the bullied student to study elsewhere is supposed to, wait let me get this correct, “ encourage people to report [antisemitism].” If im the only one who thinks this will have the opposite effect I’ll quiet down.
Dear Lee Goldstein and other board members and school admins,
It would be very simple to state what the guidelines for consequences will be should anyone be bullying anyone else especially with antisemitic “jokes”, threats,etc in the future. This in no way identifies or violates anyone’s privacy since we are talking hypothetically and for future incidents.
What can the public expect in an investigation and what kinds of consequences would a future offender probably have to deal with? What can a victim expect and what can the family of the offender expect as potential consequences and what can future victims’ families expect?
The rabbi is correct. Actions speak louder than redundant words and we need to know what your actions would be going forward!!!
I would like to make this information known. I’m certified in Connecticut to teach pre-K to grade 8 ALL SUBJECTS. This certification no longer exists, but I have it until June 30, 2024. I’m also certified to teach Spanish 7-12, and History and Social Studies 7-12. My first 8th grade students are now 65 years old! I know a little bit about education.
This is not about you. Do NOT attempt to hijack this issue
Oh.. It’s Keisha Stern again. Didn’t Dan remove your comments on another post?
Thank you Lee for your calrification and explanation.
People need to keep in mind these are children in middle school, not adults in college! These kids are still learning, and they are learning from parents, teachers, other students, and social media. I am more concerned with how teachers respond and the environment teachers create. I have a complaint against one teacher that I will now come forth with.
Still waiting @lee Goldstein for your cya defense of the nda. The entire board, superintendent and tooker should all leave asap. How can anyone defend these hidden actions and defense?
Lee Goldstein, I will not repeat what everyone else here has said. However, you have a duty to learn FERPA beyond a perfunctory 45 minute talk someone gave the school board (I’m guessing, but this demonstrates what I’ve seen so often in dealing with both HIPAA and FERPA compliance at large institutions).
You have successfully used “the law,” however, to obfuscate and avoid answering everyone’s questions here, which are the same ones Mr. Goldberg and his counsel asked of the CMS administration. That is, without discussing his son’s situation particularly, address the corrective actions you’re taking to prevent situations like this in the future, how teachers and especially administrators are being trained to prevent and respond to antisemitism, and that you will respond better in the future.
Without violating the law in the slightest, all of that can and should be answered.
When you ran for school board, you gave an interview to CT Insider, which reported the following:
““Transparency and accountability are the most important values I share,” [you] said. “I appreciate the public comment portion of all our town meetings, but people need to know that their concerns and questions are heard and followed up on.””
and
““The board must remain responsive to the concerns of all stakeholders,” [you] said. “All the work must be rigorously, publicly, and honestly evaluated for outcomes.”
[You] said a great school board member must be an effective communicator and must remember listening is as important component of communication as speaking. These were traits [you] noted [you] also exemplified.
“I believe people have appreciated my ability to empathize and my willingness to work hard — respectfully and collaboratively — to serve the best interests of our students, families and district,” [you] said.”
(CT Insider, Sep 30, 2019 at https://shorturl.at/qsBP0)
Simply put, if this was your intent and position before you started your tenure in Westport, you’ve failed your own tests miserably.
Lee Goldstein, why is it so hard to lead with courage? These times require courageous leadership. Please don’t hide behind legal talk and yes “your own jargon” . Your response sounds like you are scolding Rabbi Sklar, as well as the public, who commented on this blog. The Jewish community will not just go away and accept your platitudes. I’m hoping most of our community will not accept her platitudes either.
“In this case, our team gathered the facts; considered the needs, feelings, and well-being of the children involved, and implemented appropriate safety measures, supports and corrective actions, including consequences.”
If I am to read this correctly, it sounds like you believe this situation was handled appropriately.
The fact that the district agreed to pay a private school tuition at all, was an admittance that the current environment at the school was unsafe/missuited for Jewish students.
Is this the safety measure and supportive action that you are talking about?
As a Jewish parent this is highly discouraging.
I care much less about what happened to the specific bully in this case, and much more about how the Westport School District plans to assure that our schools are safe and inclusive going forward.
Furthermore, the fact that many in the CMS community as well as the BOE were not informed about this situation until the publication of the Newsweek article speaks volumes. How can you attest that every possible corrective measure was taken, and that this was handled 100% appropriately if you yourself were unaware of the situation until the Goldberg family spoke out.
To me, this is the opposite of transparency. The fact that our educational leaders and community were not told of the situation or made part of the solution sends a very clear message: This is not important enough to raise a flag about, lets just make it go away and forget about it.
Humans are a sorry lot and nothing will ever stop unbridled hate whether it’s directed at Jews , Arabs, blacks , Asian and I could go on but I won’t. We live in a society and country that glorifies war and violence yet we are taken aback when things of this sort occur. As my old man told me” kid, know who your enemies are”. Plus he taught me how to box.
I’m glad someone defended our school educators. This Rabbi and knee jerk reaction to what was heard not witnessed is shameful. You would like to think that more thought was put into her comments.
Calling Rabbi Sklar’s thoughtful and courageous letter regarding WPS offering a family hush money (verified fact) a knee-jerk reaction only speaks to your inherent biases.
Once again, this response completely misses the mark. It’s great that the teachers took action and followed procedures, but the issue is with the people at the top. It has now been confirmed (publicly and to me personally) that a) the facts in the article were generally true and b) that the resolution happened without the knowledge of the full board. Therefore, this constitutes a complete failure of leadership by Mr. Scarice and whoever else was involved in resolving this issue. Kids are going to say mean things, that’s nothing new. And their parents clearly failed them and our community. But at the end of the day it is the job of leadership to teach our children and keep them safe. And they failed in their duty.
While gathering facts and discreet handling of parties involved seem well-intentioned the strategy of the board reeks of subterfuge and a clear absence of preventing a malignant scourge of antisemitism. Damage control alone will not work to stem this ugly tide. Prevention, education, and a LOUD voice is necessary at every level, to explain why this form of hate is so reprehensible. The vulnerability Jews feel today echoes the pernicious wave of hate which permeated 1930’s Germany. Then, there was no State of Israel to rescue the doomed headed into 1940’s Germany. We are now at 1930’s Germany – awfully tactful, all too careful not to make waves. Now is the time to be proactive and remember the tragic lessons of history – LOUDLY & DELIBERATELY !
we live in a country where USA voters love and reward Trump for repeating Hitler words. We live in a country there on Jan 6 a Trump supporter wore a camp Auschwitz tee shirt. Trump refused to call white supremacy out. Trumps impact on his 06880 supporters and their children is ingrained Children are well aware off trumps hate speech and mimic him as their rule model. Stop voting for an ignoramos that repeats hitlers words. The school incident is not an isolated antisemitic act. It is part of a movement from the Republican Party who adores Trump The Republican candidates say nothing and do nothing about it. Jewish clergy stay quiet. Where are all the leaders of every church in 06880 ? Why are they refusing to stand up against antisemitism in 06880.
Anti semitism is on the right and left( think about the squad) ! You can’t blame one side or the other, however, I agree with you that Trump is a threat to all of us indeed. The ADL made it very clear last nignt that to fight anti- semitism we must ALL fight to preserve our Democracy! I know exectly what that means! And Jews can not fight anti semitism alone! We need all of your help and voices!
yes there is left wing anti semitism. I don’t think Omar. jayapal a o c equal the cnn powerful repeated Hitler words out of trumps mouth. it’s not as impactful. the words of the squad are not infectious to children. the words from Trump carry much more weight abs are imitated loved adored in 06880 and the USA. Evev rabbis who hear Trump repeat Hitlers words are quiet.
I apologize. I should use my glasses One is allowed to criticize Israel. You may not like the criticism. That is not anti semitism. The squad has made some anti semitic statements. true. I want to remind you that Omar did apologize for 1. Jayapal backtracked and almost apologized. Trump has never apologized. The man wearing a camp Auschwitz shirt in support of Trump and a other wearing 6 million is not enough tee shirt is Far More Impactful Influential then the squad. Trump was given multiple chances to call these symbols out. Trump did nothing but even worse told the USA. proud boys stand by. The USA and Republican Party who has strong evangelical support are very likely to elect an ignoramos who repeats the words of Adolph Hitler
Chanting “ from the river to the sea” is basically calling for genocide of the Jews. That must be taught to kids along with Trump’s echoing of Hitler’s words from Mein Kampf being just as dangerous. Both are dangerous, and as a Jew, both scare me equally. The college kids marching for terrorism and against Israel and Trump attempting to dismantle Democracy and calling immigrants the same names as Hitler.. just awful and scary.
Oh please. Stop defending the Squad and acting as if they’re not “influential.” Omar and Tlaib both have direct ties to Hamas $. They also have and continue to purport Jewish & Israeli blood libel time and again. They are no better/worse than Trump in this scenario. Your perspective, that a man wearing a tee-shirt is somehow more impactful than the actual people who vote in Congress and spew antisemitic vitriol, is misguided at best.
Sir, have you any evidence that this particular family that raised a child with anti-semitic notions are Trump supporters or even Republican? If not, then what does Trump have to do with it?
The fact is that anti-semitism is alive and well on both sides of the isle (see Horseshoe Theory) and if you blatantly refuse to see it, then I’d venture a guess that you aren’t intellectually honest.
Good day.
Have those responsible for the bullying been punished? That would go a long way toward demonstrating how seriously the matter has been taken by the school and deterring others from such conduct
Personally, I am a big fan of punishment as a deterrent (e.g. grounding children, school suspensions, sending criminals to jail) though I am told that is no longer the proper response to misbehavior, criminal or otherwise, since the perps are victims of one thing or another themselves.
From how everyone is dancing around, I do wonder in this case if the “bully” has Tourette’s or is somewhere on the spectrum where they lack empathy and/or the ability to recognize social cues so simply say things. If that’s the case, is punishment or suspension the correct response? Would it do anything?
Of course, given privacy rights, aside from those involved, we will never know.
Please refer to the ADL about how they think this should all be handled. Last night’s talk at Temple Israel was very informative. Teaching these kids anout anti semitism is a BIG part of the response, not just punatice measures. We want these kids to learn right from wrong and be better humans. Learning is part of this all.
Attending the ADL meeting at Temple Israel yesterday was very helpful! Please contact the ADL to learn more information if you are interested. They are involved in Wearport Public Schools! They know about the incident and have advised.
the ADL is the best organization to fight antisemitism. our local rabbis and church leaders are a big let down in my view
Thank you Lee.
For anyone who is interested in the issue of what is being taught and going unsanctioned in our schools, this is a worthwhile read. There is some reporting on what happened in Wspt. https://www.thefp.com/p/how-us-public-schools-teach-antisemitism?utm_campaign=email-post&r=1bldv1&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Joan, this is what is being taught in Westport Public Schools? I need clarification please as a Jewish mother. If this is being taught in Westport Public Schools, I am horrified and the ADL needs to know about it. When I read this article, it seems to be about a teacher in a different school district. I can not imagine an elementary teacher in Westport teaching about why people have different sized noses ect…based on being Jewish ect…
In my middle and high school courses, during the Jurassic era, yes we were taught this…but what Nazi’s used as propaganda to instill fear in those who were not Jewish.
During the 1930s as Hitler was growing amongst the lower poor working class with his political rhetoric derived from his destain views of the Jewish faith—Joseph Goebbels applied stereotypes of Jewish people through political propaganda posters. This would then follow with those protesting Jewish shop owners from not purchasing from them, and later vandalizing, looting, and burning down their stores. Even condemned and handed over to ‘true Germans’ (meanwhile hitler was Austrian).
It is taught, as a part of history, because political propaganda is what drove the third reich movement. History is ugly.
Westport Public Schools does NOT teach antisemitism in a manner that would promote hatred…but the impact of hatred on many cultures, religions, ethnicities.
Antisemitism is up 388% across the United States.
If you are targeted, report it immediately. Do not wait or be fearful.
Thank you for a very reasonable response to this issue. There are way too many in the community that have jumped on the bandwagon without knowing the details of the investigation, making the assumption that the school did not thoroughly address the situation.
Thank you for this and your other comment. I have been loathe to comment on this matter because all of the pitchfork wielding
It has seemed odd, to me, that the only information out in the public has come from one parent of one child and it has been treated as if it is the complete story.
The Administration and the BOE, by law, can’t share details of what is going on. (And non-disclosure agreements on settlements are the rule, not the exception.)
The parents of the other children haven’t spoken up because to identify themselves would be to leave them (and their children) branded as antisemites. Does anyone reading the comments think that the cost of providing a more complete story would be a net positive experience for them and their children?
Because of that, we have NO idea as to what the relationships of these children are – whether this was part of a pattern of behavior amongst ALL of the children that predated the reported incidents, for instance. We know nothing except for what one aggrieved parent chose to share on the Newsweek website. There is far more that we do not know. Yet there is absolute certainty from the peanut gallery.
Agreed Steve! The watching of South Park and the casual acceptance of it is what made me question the scenario a bit.