Central Berkshire Upping Bias Training After Antisemitic Harassment
DALTON, Mass. — Central Berkshire Regional School District is making curriculum changes and will be holding workshops on bias, bullying and inclusion in response to a Jewish teacher's resignation over antisemitic harassment at Nessacus Regional Middle School.
The social studies teacher Morrison Robblee told The Berkshire Eagle last week that he was harassed by one of his sixth graders for months but feels the administration did not take proper action. The incidents have resulted in a police investigation and the juvenile is facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal harassment.
Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis told the School Committee on Thursday that the administration has been in communication with the Anti-Defamation League to provide professional development that has an educational focus on how to respond to incidents of bias and hate.
These workshops and training will be scheduled during the first few days of the news school year.
Another recommendation that came out of the district's Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Belonging Steering Committee was working with community partners like the Community Recreation Association because it sees the same challenges and growth areas as the district.
Robblee said he wrote to the district's administrators that without proper action these antisemitic incidents could put the student at risk of "deeper radicalization of hate" and will lead to violence. More information here.
School officials claim that they had taken appropriate measures for the situation and that privacy restrictions make it difficult to provide the community with the full picture.
"There were rigorous and what I would say progressive disciplinary steps that were taken in response to the students actions," Blake-Davis said.
"I put those in sort of two categories: one, I would say accountable consequences, and then also accountable interventions. I would say I felt confident that at the school level, we were apprised of these occurrences that appropriate action was taken and that as a collective body. We do not tolerate acts of bias and hate."
One of the difficult things that the district has come across is the degree of information that the administration can share with both the School Committee and the media.
According to The Eagle, Robblee filed a union grievance in May for an unsafe working environment citing the insults, jokes, and drawing the student had made.
The same month, the administration placed Robblee on administrative leave following claims of misconduct that involved him making a face at the student and speaking about the student in front of other children at the school.
Robblee denies the allegation that he spoke about the student in front of others but does admit that, out of frustration, he made a face at the student harassing him, the paper said. iBerkshires was not able to get in contact with Robblee.
Making a face at a student seems like a minor infraction to be placed on administrative leave, School Committee member David Stuart said.
Blake-Davis said she agreed that is how the article reads, but that there is pertinent information that was left out that she is not at liberty to share and that this is an ongoing personnel matter.
"I think that the public is drawing their information from an article that misrepresented the actions that were taken and I would say from a legal and ethical standpoint, the school took appropriate action on both the student and the staff member," Assistant Superintendent Michael Henault said.
School Committee member Art Alpert agreed with Henault and added that newspaper articles "sensationalized what's going on."
Alpert said although his opinion is limited based on the information his fellow committee members and the general public have, he knows based on the district's policies and the superintendent's reports that issues surrounding bias and equity are being addressed in school.
"But what I do know is that what I read was so broad and pointed fingers, that really not necessary… just knowing that when I read the article, I said, 'wait a second, I know that these issues in terms of equity, in terms of bias are being addressed in the schools," Alpert said.
"We make the policies but the policies dictate a lot of what goes on in school and we do hear about it. I don't think we're blind to it. I think we do hear about it all the time."
The district has already adopted the ADL curriculum in the middle schools that focuses on how to create safe spaces for students so they can have these hard discussions with guidance. Although the middle schools already have this curriculum, school officials are looking to bring it to the elementary schools.
It will be adding elements to the curriculum to help students discern misinformation and hate speech on social media.
"Social media is the main driving factor behind this, I mean, we have no idea of family issues and I'm sure there are families where that is some of the source, but I would bet social media is the driving factor on this," said Chair Richard Peters.
The district discussed using Wahconah Regional High School's very active No Place for Hate group in the elementary schools to build a foundation of discussion topics of bias, bullying, inclusion and allyship. The group has about 50 students.
A new cohort of students at Nessacus will participate in the making a World of Difference program. Since the district is relatively small, it intends to partner with another district.
Since the initial publication of The Eagle's article the situation has gone viral, with headlines in major new organizations including The Independent, The Washington Post, Business Insider, and more.
The incident was also shared on social media sites like Reddit, generating thousands of views from people around the world.
"With so many schools experiencing shootings, some by actual children, you would think a child exhibiting this kind of blatant behavior should raise more alarm. This could be an event that could escalate to violence or it could be a troubled child screaming for help," one reddit user said.
"I feel the teacher has a right to raise concerns and the schools have an obligation to take them seriously for everyone's sake. It's unfortunate that this was the result."
Another commenter noted that if the student feels confident enough to treat a teacher this way, imagine how he may be treating some of his peers. Other commenters wondered how the student was radicalized whether it was at home, via social media, or a combination of both.
Robblee told The Eagle that the harassment started in February when he informed his students that Jewish.
During Passover, the student started making anti-Semitic jokes about the Holocaust, gas chambers, and other Nazi imagery.
In addition to the "jokes," the sixth grader made hateful comments about the kippah Robblee wore during Passover. Following the incident, Robblee decided to write the student up for detention.
The antisemitic remarks escalated to a hand-drawn picture disguised as an apology letter depicting Adolf Hitler standing over a dead Jewish person with the words "Sorry, Jew" written along the top.
Following the incident the sixth grader was suspended and removed from Robblee's class but the harassment persisted upon the student's return in the school's hallways and via email.
According to The Eagle, in a statement Robblee wrote for the student's re-entry meeting that he claims he was not invited to, he said, "I am not bothered by the ignorant comments of a child. I am bothered that, without proper intervention, this hate will continue to fester."
After filing the union grievance citing the unsafe working environment, he submitted the drawings and emails to the police. Police referred iBerkshires' queries to the District Attorney's Office; the DA's Office said it would not be releasing any information.
The minor is now facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal harassment but access to juvenile cases are limited.
Tags: CBRSD, harassment,
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