The Anti-Defamation League filed a federal civil rights complaint against Baltimore City Public Schools last week, saying Jewish students have been subjected to “persistent discrimination and harassment.”

The school system, the complaint says, knew its schools were hostile places for Jewish students and did not address complaints of antisemitism, harassment and bullying. The ADL said Jewish parents identified problems and suggested remedies. It claims the school system ignored their concerns or didn’t take enough action.

The school system said in a statement Wednesday morning that it is committed to fostering a culture of tolerance, respect and civility.

“Bullying and harassment have no place in our schools, and we strongly reject and do not tolerate antisemitism and racism against any group,” the statement says.

The ADL’s complaint gives examples of discrimination in particular schools and alleges that students feel isolated and fear telling people they are Jewish.

Students at the Mount Washington School, an elementary and middle school, texted Jewish classmates with links to a “Zionist or Nazi?” quiz, made Nazi salutes and threatened to bring Hamas to the country, the complaint alleges.

The ADL says that swastika graffiti has appeared on Baltimore school property in a number of schools and that a teacher at Bard High School Early College said to the class, “I’m about to go all Nazi on you.”

The ADL filed the complaint on behalf of Jewish students in the school system and is asking the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the school system under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on shared ancestry.

 “The failure of Baltimore City Public Schools to address this hostile environment has left Jewish students feeling abandoned and unsafe,” Tali Cohen, regional director of ADL Washington, D.C., said in a statement Tuesday night. “Rather than removing antisemitism from classrooms and protecting Jewish students, the district remained inactive and silent.”

School officials said in the statement that they are aware of some of the incidents referenced in the complaint and addressed them at the time.

At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Andre Riley, the executive director of communications for the district, said the district rejects antisemitism and racism and took the “necessary” time to “come to the right conclusion.”

“We want to move quickly, but we also want to make sure we’re moving correctly,” he said.

Riley said he could not get into specifics about the status of the Bard High School teacher but noted that the teacher is still employed by the district. The system is taking steps to ensure a safe environment for students, he added.

The “right steps,” Riley said, were taken conducting the investigation on both the Bard High School and the Mount Washington school.

“Sometimes folks do not feel like we have helped them,” he said. But our record shows that what we knew about those two particular instances, we acted promptly.”

Schools encourage anyone with concerns to report them, according to the statement.

The ADL has filed similar complaints against other school districts, including Philadelphia public schools in 2024. It resulted in a settlement that included revising harassment reporting procedures, according to the ADL.

In March, the Education Department opened investigations into antisemitism at Yale University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Scripps College after complaints from the ADL.

The Education Department has settled cases with some universities and school districts after the ADL brought complaints.

The ADL, a nonprofit founded in 1913 to fight antisemitism, has faced criticism for its support of the Trump administration’s campaign against pro-Palestinian activists and what some have said is a definition of antisemitism that is so expansive that it stifles criticism of the war in Gaza and political critiques of Israel.

Members of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, took steps this month to sever ties with the ADL over the war in Gaza, but the union decided against a proposed boycott of the nonprofit, according to Education Week.

Teachers across the country have had to manage the divisive political issue in their classrooms.

The Baltimore ADL complaint says Jewish students, who are a minority in the school system, have been harassed for years but that incidents have become more frequent since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and the war in Gaza began.

The group says Baltimore City College, a high school, displayed a poster that said “from the river to the sea.” The ADL says that message supports the destruction of Israel. Palestinian activists see the phrase as a call for peace and equality after years of rule over the Palestinians.

The ADL said it hopes the claim will force the school system to enforce “zero-tolerance policies for antisemitic conduct,” provide antisemitism training to the staff and implement a Holocaust and antisemitism curriculum.

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