Posting swastikas, mimicking Nazi salutes, threatening to kill Jewish people.

These are among at least 28 incidents of alleged antisemitic activities across 16 Howard County public schools during the past two academic years identified by the U.S Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in a newly released investigation.

The civil rights office found that “a hostile environment likely existed” for Jewish students who attended Howard County Public Schools during the past two years.

A Jewish middle school student was called a “dirty Jew” and was told to “go back to the gas chamber,” according to the investigation. Other incidents include using the term “Jew” as a slur, making Jew jokes and professing a love for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Jewish students make up 6% of the overall county student population, according to the Howard County Jewish Parent Coalition, as stated in the investigation.

The Howard County school system acknowledged to federal investigators that it did not consider whether the reported incidents played a role in creating a hostile learning environment, which led the civil rights office to be concerned “that a hostile environment likely existed for individual Jewish students and may have operated for Jewish students school — and school system-wide.”

The school system’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office does not investigate cases of reported discrimination and or harassment, the investigation says. It instead provides guidance on how individual schools can document and respond to such incidents.

To address the alleged antisemitic harassment, Howard schools entered into a resolution agreement with the Office of Civil Rights designed to ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agreement says it is not an admission of wrongdoing, noncompliance or liability by the school system.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the alleged harassment on March 25 after a complaint alleged the school system “discriminated against students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond to harassment during the 2023–2024 school year.”

The investigation also found that additional incidents happened at student walkouts in response to the Israel-Hamas war. High schoolers at multiple county high schools walked out in protest over the war last school year.

The ACLU of Maryland said in June that River Hill High School administrators tried to silence Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian students who wanted to participate in a November 2023 walkout.

After several meetings the students were allowed to participate in the walkout but under “strict conditions,” and could not say ““Palestine,” ”Gaza,” “apartheid” or “siege,” according to the ACLU.

Some Jewish students stayed home on the day of the walkout, and one requested to leave school that because “peers were making ‘jew jokes and I’m just pissed,‘” the investigation found.

Under the school system’s agreement with the civil rights office, Howard schools must take a variety of actions to ensure a hostile learning environment does not exist for Jewish students.

“By entering this resolution agreement, Howard County Public Schools commits to protecting students regardingless of their national origin or shared ancestry so students can learn in an environment free from harassment that violates Title VI of the the Civil Rights Act,” said Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights, in a statement.

Howard schools “is pleased” to resolve the complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, said Brian Bassett, a school system spokesman, in a statement. The office’s investigation aligns with actions being implemented by the school system to ensure the protection of student rights.

“Training and open dialog will continue so students may express their views and concerns in an appropriate and effective manner,” Bassett said.

Requirements of the resolution include: issuing an anti-harassment statement; developing a climate assessment for all middle and high schoolers and staff; reviewing current policies and developing new ones; and providing the Office for Civil Rights with all of the district’s responses to complaints and oral reports of alleged discrimination for the current school year and the next two.

The Howard County Jewish Advocacy Group says it is “essential” for the school system to work with national experts — including the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law — to grapple with antisemitism in schools.

“We believe HCPSS must provide transparent tracking and reporting of discrimination incidents henceforth and meaningful consequences for those who violate anti-discrimination policies or otherwise create a hostile environment for Jews or any protected class,” said David Albert, the advisory’s vice president of the board of directors, in a statement.

A member of the advocacy group filed the federal complaint, while other members reported incidents during the investigation process.

Meredith R. Weisel, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in the Washington, D.C., office, said in a statement that the agreement is “both welcome and overdue.”

“Now the school system will be both accountable and responsible for the protection of their students, who deserve no less,” Weisel said.

The incidents, Weisel said, did not allow for a healthy learning environment.

Baltimore Banner reporter Lillian Reed contributed to this report.