Sarah Golabek-Goldman, an attorney for an Orthodox Jewish student who allegedly faced antisemitic harassment, including a bomb threat, while attending a public high school in a heavily Jewish county in Maryland, wants students to know that they have the right to seek help from law enforcement and lawyers.
“If there is an immediate danger, they should call 911 directly,” Golabek-Goldman, director of legal initiatives at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told JNS.
Families of victims “should expect schools to take threats seriously and involve law enforcement when warranted,” she said. “But they should not assume that a report to the school automatically reaches the police.”
A police investigation also “does not replace the school’s responsibility to address harassment and protect the student’s access to education,” she told JNS. “The processes are separate.”
Golabek-Goldman spoke to JNS on Tuesday, after the Brandeis Center filed a federal civil rights complaint on Oct. 15 alleging that Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland’s largest district, which has more than 150,000 students in more than 200 schools, failed to address harassment of the student, who graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in June.
The heavily Jewish county contains about 45% of Jews in the state.
Golabek-Goldman told JNS that students should “save messages and screenshots” to preserve evidence and that they can seek legal assistance before a school completes an investigation.
“They have to be able to tell a trusted adult and report the specific targeting to the school in writing, what happened, who was involved and how it was affecting their safety or ability to learn,” she advised.
“They should ask for concrete protective measures and follow up but know always that they have an ally in the Brandeis Center, as well, and that they could come to us and we’re here to support them,” she said.
Fear of retaliation keeps many Jewish students from reporting harassment, she said. Her client is remaining anonymous for that reason—concern that he will be punished for reporting the Jew-hatred.
“Unfortunately, across Montgomery County, students, Jewish students and their families are facing severe antisemitism,” Golabek-Goldman said. “I think it’s very important for these students to know that these civil rights laws specifically have protections against retaliation.”
Her client’s parents repeatedly sought help from the school and district, she told JNS. She worries about students who lack that support and also thinks that “the onus shouldn’t always be on the Jewish kids.”
“The school and the district need to take proactive measures and ensure that they’re complying with the law,” she told JNS.
Golabek-Goldman rejected the suggestion that visibly Jewish students, like her client who wore a kipah and tzitzit, should transfer to Jewish private schools to escape harassment.
“Jews shouldn’t have to face what I call the ‘Jewish tax’ and pay extra money to go to private school, because they’re afraid for their safety,” Golabek-Goldman told JNS. “No student should have to choose between going to school and being safe, and no child should have to choose between expressing their religion and their safety.”
“Religious freedom is a bedrock American principle,” she added. “Schools receiving federal funds must fulfill their civil rights obligations to Jewish students.”
