StandWithUs and the Bay Area Jewish Coalition File Title VI Complaint Against CA’s Santa Clara Unified School District for Disparate Treatment and Harassment of Jewish Students

Federal civil rights complaint alleges that district engaged in disparate treatment of Jewish elementary, middle and high school students, and ignored severe and pervasive harassment of Jewish students across multiple schools 

Santa Clara, CA, April 3, 2025 – StandWithUs Saidoff Legal, a division of StandWithUs, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to educating about Israel and combating antisemitism, and the Bay Area Jewish Coalition, represented by David Rosenberg-Wohl of Hershenson Rosenberg-Wohl, P.C., filed a Title VI complaint with the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on behalf of Jewish students in elementary, middle, and high school campuses within California’s Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD). 

Since October 7, 2023, accounts from both parents and students reveal deliberate indifference and disregard by SCUSD district leadership to address issues of pervasive discrimination and bias against Jewish students. SCUSD failed to appropriately enforce its own policies (including by privileging certain groups over others), to conduct proper or timely investigations, or to provide basic training and education to prevent further incidents of antisemitism. 

Incidents documented and reported in the complaint include antisemitic slurs directed at Jewish students by their peers; harassment of Jewish students by teachers; approved antisemitic content and programming used in classrooms; dissemination and endorsement of biased and antisemitic resources by the district; and biased application and enforcement of policies. 

“It is both shocking and heartbreaking that it has come to this. After 1.5 years of continuous attempts to constructively address the situation to no avail, SCUSD Jewish students feel abandoned, leaving us no choice but to file this official complaint.” said David Rosenberg-Wohl, who represents the Bay Area Jewish Coalition.

“SCUSD has allowed an egregiously hostile environment to fester for its Jewish and Israeli students in violation of its federal obligations and ethical responsibility to create a safe educational space for all students,” said Jenna Statfeld Harris, Senior Counsel and K-12 Specialist at StandWithUs Saidoff Legal. “SCUSD leadership repeatedly disregarded the rights of their Jewish and Israeli students. We implore the Office for Civil Rights to step in and uphold the right of these students to an inclusive education free from hostility toward their protected identity.” 

Read the complaint here

StandWithUs is an international, non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism. StandWithUs empowers and energizes students and communities with leadership training and educational programs on hundreds of college campuses, high schools, and middle schools. StandWithUs informs through social media, print and digital materials, films, weekly newsletters, and missions to Israel. StandWithUs takes legal action through the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and offices throughout the U.S., Israel, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. More at www.standwithus.com. 

The Bay Area Jewish Coalition (BAJC) is a grassroots organization dedicated to ensuring that Jewish residents of the Bay Area can thrive and live safely in their communities. Formed in the wake of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, the BAJC addresses the alarming rise in antisemitism locally with impactful, community-driven solutions. In K-12 schools alone, we have tracked over 200 antisemitic incidents between November 2023 and June 2024.  BAJC uses a variety of strategies - including institutional training, community organizing, legal avenues, and local- and state-level advocacy - to address such incidents.