GREENWOOD VILLAGE | Following reports of antisemitic incidents in Cherry Creek schools, Superintendent Chris Smith said Monday that the district is working this summer on implementing resources and training to combat the issue.
A group of about 100 people came to the district’s May school board meeting to draw awareness to the issue of what one parent described as “systemic, rampant antisemitism.”
Jewish parents who spoke at the meeting described incidents including other students making Nazi salutes, drawing swastikas and making antisemitic comments and remarks to their children.
“Our kids are scared to say they are Jewish for fear of retaliation,” said parent Rikki Mor, who also coordinated an open letter to the district, at the May meeting.
Local officials denounced the incidents.
“Our schools must be free from hatred and division. Full stop,” Aurora state senator Rhonda Fields said on Twitter in response to the news. “It’s on all of us, in our families, and in our communities, to fight bias and hate by creating more acceptance.”
At the district’s Monday school board meeting, Smith said that the remarks at last month’s meeting had been “extremely difficult to hear” but that he was grateful to the community for sounding the alarm.
Over the past month, he said the district has been meeting with parents about how the district can improve and has also had several meetings with the ADL. Over the summer the district will be reviewing resources around combating antisemitism from a handful of organizations and meeting with parents to talk about what next steps to take, he said.
During the August staff work week, time has been scheduled for West Middle School, Campus Middle School and Cherry Creek High School to go through a training around antisemitism, he said. The new teacher orientation will also include a course on antisemitism.
Smith thanked the community for their partnership on this issue and described the district’s work as a facet of its ongoing commitment to equity.
“While we are not perfect, I do think we always strive to be excellent,” Smith said.
It’s about time you are dealing with antisemitism. I have read comments in the news about this issues for past couple of years.
Proud of you for dealing with the issue in a positive step.
Antisemitism has no place in our society. Thanks to the superintendent for calling it out.
I’m Jewish and I taught at a CCSD elementary school. Another teacher, who is still there, made an anti-semitic comment in my presence without hesitation. It was only when she remembered that I was Jewish that she cupped her hands over her mouth and literally ran away from me. My daughter, who is also Jewish, went to a different CCSD elementary school and was bombarded with anti-semitic comments from other kids. A one-time “training” at two middle schools and a high school is far from enough. A one-time course for new teachers is not enough. Just as anti-semitism is systemic, the fight against it must be the same. All district employees must be educated in Jewish culture, Jewish history and in the Jewish religion (and it shouldn’t stop at all that’s Jewish). Teachers must come to realize that the act of handing out worksheets with Christmas trees and not handing out worksheets with Hanukkah symbols reinforces anti-Jewish sentiment as much as a swastika does. CCSD must do better. All districts must do better. Anti-semitism is embedded in American culture and it will take a long-term commitment to even brush the surface. This isn’t an issue of equity; Equity is about access. This is a battle against hatred.
The Smith family nepotism continues to inspire the district to do the same. There is no concern about any problems because arrogant elitism prevails. Without reason- leadership degrees at University of Phoenix and South New Hampshire University. It is not the school that makes this a “good” district, it is the community.
I am glad the district is doing something, but I agree that one course at New Teacher Training & the work week before school starts at 3 schools is not enough. Anti-semitism is systemic & deserves a systemic response. As a Jewish teacher who wears a kippah full-time, I have never worked at a middle school that couldn’t benefit from lessons about combating anti-semitism. I have had Nazi salutes directed toward me and anti-semitic comments made, and one horrifying experience in a Wichita Public Schools 8th grade classroom which caused me to stop teaching for a few years…the lights were turned out, chairs were thrown at me (striking my back), & “The Nazis are coming! You better run!” was yelled at me. Nothing was done when I reported that last incident. The principal apologized, said she knew which specific kids were involved, and then did nothing aside from “talking” to them about why it was wrong, so I filed a police report. The
police said the school claimed the whole class had taken responsibility, and so there was nobody to charge. I have also worked at elementary schools who would benefit from that curriculum.
I am glad that the district seems willing to work to try to prevent these incidences in the future, and I hope this is only the beginning. I will say that working at Pine Ridge Elementary School was a very safe & fulfilling experience for me as a visibly Jewish teacher in Cherry Creek. That school has a great culture set up that supports accepting other folks’ differences and asking respectful questions about others’ traditions & beliefs. I honestly can’t name one anti-semitic experience I had in Cherry Creek, but I know it is a large district, I was only at Pine Ridge, & I don’t doubt students experienced anti-semitic events- especially at the middle & high school levels.