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Three Village trustees, superintendent respond after antisemitic incidents; district outlines education and outreach steps
Summary
Following reports of antisemitic speech in a middle-school class, the superintendent and trustees described steps including a community letter, meetings with local Holocaust and civil-rights organizations, curricular review, and planned speaker events for students.
The Three Village Central School District addressed a cluster of antisemitic incidents in district schools at its March 26 Board of Education meeting and described a series of education and outreach steps in response.
Superintendent Kevin Scanlon told the board the district had sent a letter to families on Friday after an uptick in antisemitic incidents in school settings; he said most incidents involved speech or insensitive remarks and not acts of violence. "The good news in one sense is that . . . there were no acts of violence or threats," Scanlon said, while emphasizing that "one is enough" and the district would not tolerate such conduct.
Actions the district described at the meeting and in follow-up planning include: working with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL); meeting with the Westchester County Holocaust Center; engagement with the Jewish Partisans Educational Foundation; additional professional development and teacher training; a Curriculum Development Committee review of existing instruction; and plans to bring a Holocaust survivor to speak to tenth-grade students at Ward Melville High School on April 9.
Community leaders and speakers urged broader measures. Rabbi Aaron Benson cited national incident counts reported by the ADL and asked the district to consider a "comprehensive strategic plan to combat Jewish hatred" that would include transparency, data tracking of incidents and a review of the district's zero-tolerance policy. Public commenters also asked how students responsible for antisemitic remarks were being educated or disciplined and whether repeat offenders were on social media.
Trustees said the district would continue work with external partners and expand teacher training and curriculum review. Dr. Scanlon thanked staff and community members and described ongoing planning with the district's professional-development and curriculum committees to add training and programming.
The district did not announce disciplinary specifics for individual students at the public meeting, citing privacy and federal rules; trustees said appropriate follow-up would occur off the public record and that administrative staff would contact concerned parents and community members.
