The Anti-Defamation League has filed a federal civil-rights complaint against the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, alleging that a student was the victim of antisemitic bullying and physical abuse while attending Southern Hills Middle School.
According to the complaint filed on June 11 with the U.S. Department of Education and with the Denver Office for Civil Rights, the victim, identified as “Student A,” was subjected to repeated antisemitic bullying, slurs and physical assaults by multiple students during his seventh- and eighth-grade years, from 2024 to 2026.
According to the filing, students called Jews “dirty” and “contaminated,” attempted to organize a game dubbed “Jew touch tag,” and directed Nazi salutes and Holocaust-related taunts at the student.
In a December 2025 incident cited in the complaint, a classmate allegedly used a charging cord to pull the student backward by the neck while calling him a “stupid kike,” prompting a police investigation. In April, another student allegedly told him, “Hitler should have killed all the Jews when he had the chance.”
The ADL alleges that school and district officials were repeatedly notified of the incidents but failed to take effective action to stop the harassment. The organization is asking federal officials to investigate whether the district violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and to require corrective measures.
“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, vice president of litigation for the ADL, stated.
“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,” Pasch said.
