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On June 16, 2026 the Anti-Defamation League filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging that a Jewish eighth-grader at Southern Hills Middle School in the Boulder Valley School District endured two years of escalating antisemitic harassment, including a game called “Jew touch tag,” a classmate lassoing a charging cord around the student’s neck and dragging him while hurling a vile slur, and a separate taunt that “Hitler should have killed all the Jews.” Those are not the anonymous grumblings of internet trolls — ADL’s filing says the family made written pleas, the school system logged formal reports, and local police were called. Any community that cannot guarantee basic safety for its children has failed in its fundamental duty.
The ADL’s complaint says the district repeatedly failed to stop the harassment despite repeated notice, a charge that should set off alarm bells nationwide. Boulder Valley’s polite statement that it “takes such allegations seriously” rings hollow next to reports of physical assault and a youth who now hides his religious identity to avoid further attacks. If administrators were doing their jobs, parents would not have had to beg for a response while their child was injured and humiliated.
This disturbing episode fits a pattern we’re seeing in far too many progressive-run districts that cozy up to ideology while neglecting law and order in the halls. When schools emphasize programs and politics over discipline and security, kids pay the price — and religious minorities are particularly vulnerable when district leaders refuse to enforce common-sense protections. Voters should not be surprised when districts with ideological blind spots fail to protect students from antisemitism and violence.
Accountability must follow. The ADL has asked the Department of Education to enforce Title VI requirements, including zero-tolerance policies, mandatory staff training, policy reviews, and stronger reporting tools; those are reasonable, legal steps, not partisan theater. Local school boards should also act now: investigate transparently, discipline staff who ignored complaints, and cooperate fully with law enforcement so that parents can believe their children are safe again.
This is not just a local scandal — the ADL noted 167 antisemitic incidents in Colorado in 2025, a sharp reminder that hatred is not an abstract problem for someone else to fix. Conservatives have long warned that abandoning discipline and traditional civic norms in public schools creates vacuums where bullies, bigotry, and fear flourish. Restoring order and common decency in our schools is a moral imperative, not a political talking point.
Parents must reclaim their authority and demand results from elected school boards and administrators who were hired to protect children, not to shield mismanagement. If district leadership cannot or will not safeguard religious liberty and student safety, voters should remove them and replace them with leaders who understand accountability and law. Hardworking Americans expect schools to be safe places of learning; anything less is unacceptable.
