The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Title VI complaint says the student, who recently ended his eighth grade year, was subjected to antisemitic bullying, slurs and physical assault by multiple classmates throughout seventh and eighth grades. The complaint, filed Thursday, also contends that the Boulder Valley School District failed to remedy the hostile environment and provided no meaningful response to stop the harassment.
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Boulder Valley spokesperson Randy Barber said in a written statement that the district doesn’t comment on ongoing legal matters but that “we take all allegations of discrimination and harassment seriously.”
“We continue to focus on improvements to our policies, reporting systems, practices and education efforts — all with the goal of ensuring every BVSD student feels safe, welcomed and a strong sense of belonging,” he wrote.
The complaint lists multiple incidents of discrimination.
In April 2025, according to the complaint, classmates in the student’s P.E. class attempted to play a game called “Jew touch tag” and said Jews were “dirty” and “contaminated.” Then, in December of the current school year, a classmate fashioned a Chromebook charging cord into a lasso, threw it around the student’s neck and dragged him backward from a chair while calling him a “stupid kike” when the teacher was out of the room during a study hall, according to the complaint.
The Boulder Police Department was called to investigate the charging cord incident, and police issued a juvenile court summons to the classmate for third-degree assault. The classmate also received a one-week school suspension, according to the complaint, and the victim was moved to a different study hall. After the classmate returned to school, a no-contact order was put in place, but the classmate violated it on the first day, according to the complaint.
This spring, another classmate told the student that “Hitler should have killed all the Jews when he had the chance,” according to the complaint. Other incidents included classmates using verbal slurs and giving Nazi salutes; antisemitic taunting in the lunch line, after school and in class; and Holocaust-related mockery. As a result, according to the complaint, the student stopped wearing a Star of David necklace and sharing his religious identity.
The complaint says the student’s parents first reported antisemitic harassment to the school district in November 2024 and continued to provide written notices, as well as asking for protective supervision in January that wasn’t provided.
The complaint includes a district report that Southern Hills had found bullying following an investigation into the December 2025 incident.
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But, according to the complaint, the district “failed to put into place systemic changes to address the continued antisemitic harassment,” instead placing the burden on the student to avoid a hostile environment. The student was relocated from study hall to the principal’s office, no longer changed in the locker room for gym, skipped a school field trip to avoid the classmates targeting him, and quit basketball.
At the end of April, the student’s parents pulled him from school for the rest of the year because of concerns about his physical safety and well-being, according to the complaint.
“The record here is overwhelming: written pleas from the student’s parents, formal school reports and a police investigation all point to the conclusion that antisemitic harassment at Southern Hills Middle School was pervasive, escalating and severe,” James Pasch, ADL’s vice president of litigation, wrote in a statement. “Despite the family’s pleas for help to stop the harassment, the school district failed to effectively address it, a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. No family should have to fight this hard to ensure a Jewish child’s safety at school, and certainly no Jewish student should face the threat of assault or harassment because of their Jewish identity.”
Over the two years of harassment, according to the complaint, the district didn’t speak to the Southern Hills student body about the antisemitic incidents, issue any public statement denouncing antisemitism or implement any form of educational programs, training or curriculum on antisemitism for students or staff members.
The ADL is asking the Office for Civil Rights to require the district to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitic conduct; implement mandatory antisemitism training for all teachers, administrators, faculty, staff and students; review district policies on discrimination; and implement stronger student and staff reporting policies that prevent retaliation.
ADL Mountain States Regional Director Susan Rona said the organization recorded 167 antisemitic incidents in Colorado in 2025. A year ago, an antisemitic firebombing attack on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall resulted in the death of an 82-year-old woman.
“A Jewish student was assaulted and called a ‘stupid kike,’ ” she wrote in a statement. “This should horrify every parent and every educator. … Schools should be places where all students are protected and their heritage is respected, not where they face assault and harassment because of who they are.”
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