Sun file
The Clark County School District administration building in Las Vegas is seen in 2009. A new CCSD-commissioned study finds many people in and around the district feel that CCSD struggles or fails in several key areas, including being accountable for results, being transparent in communication, focusing on outcomes for every student and valuing the needs of all staff.
Friday, Dec. 22, 2023 | 2 a.m.
A Jewish civil rights organization has filed a state complaint on behalf of a nonverbal autistic teen who allegedly suffered an antisemitic attack while at Clark High School.
The due process complaint, filed with the state’s Department of Education, alleged that the Clark County School District did not provide the student, who was a 17-year-old 12th-grader at the time, a safe school environment. It also alleged that the boy had made “minimal, if any, educational progress” despite attending CCSD’s autism program since preschool.
“This horrific act against a defenseless Jewish student is a stark reminder of the deeply rooted issue of antisemitism that persists in our society,” said Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at The Lawfare Project, a New York-based Jewish civil and human rights organization, in announcing the case Thursday. “Furthermore, the failure of the Clark County School District to conduct a proper investigation into this incident is evidence of the systemic apathy that exists toward Jews who are targeted by hate-crimes.”
“There is an appalling pattern of discriminatory conduct within the CCSD that cannot be tolerated any longer,” said Hillary Freeman, another of the student’s lawyers. “It is time for CCSD to step up and ensure that all students are safe and receiving equal access to their education.”
According to the complaint, a CCSD Police report and media reports at the time, the boy, who wears a yarmulke — a traditional head covering for observant Jewish men and boys — came home from school March 9 with a swastika scratched into his skin and his service dog’s bag broken and re-sewn.
The state complaint said the hate symbol was “physically carved into his back.”
Additionally, the complaint detailed some of the boy’s reading, writing and math abilities and an unsatisfactory new proposed individualized education plan, which is a federally mandated personalized educational plan for special education students.
Under federal law, special education students are entitled to a “free, appropriate public education.”
“Notably, the IEP proposed by the district for the 2023-24 school year did not include any goals that advance his academic goals, functional communication and/or behaviors. To the extent there are goals related to these areas, the ‘goal’ is just designed to maintain an otherwise achieved goal,” the complaint said.
“Due to the district’s failure to ensure his safety and teach him skills to communicate his needs, self-advocate, as well as many others, Petitioners requested that (the student) be placed on home instruction until an appropriate program could be identified,” it added.
The boy is now 18 and still receiving home instruction. The complaint said CCSD did not propose a full reevaluation of the boy’s needs this fall when revisiting his IEP, “but instead opted to rely upon information that was antiquated or from professionals who barely knew him. When questioned on this at the Eligibility Meeting, the district directed the parents to file a due process petition if they disagreed with the results of the assessments.”
The Office of Inclusive Education in the Nevada Department of Education handles dispute resolution if a parent or guardian believes a school has violated special education law or regulation. Corrective action can include compensatory services or monetary reimbursement.
“I am committed and will do whatever I can to help this student and this cause,” said Lori Rogich, a local attorney who is on the teen’s legal team. “I fought for the well-being and rights of children with special needs in the past and I will always fight against antisemitism in all its forms.”
A CCSD spokesman said the district did not comment on pending litigation.
The CCSD Police Department started investigating the alleged swastika attack on March 13 and closed it on March 31, according to a report the Sun received in a public records request.
The police report stated that the boy’s mother noticed fresh scratch marks on the boy’s back when she was bathing him on the evening of March 9. Because of the boy’s disability, he was unable to explain what happened.
The police report said that the boy’s mother emailed multiple people, including an assistant principal and teacher, about her concern. She also addressed the incident the next day when she went to Clark for a meeting, the report stated.
Police reviewed security camera footage from Clark and wrote that they “did not observe anyone making any contact with (the boy). No suspicious activity of any kind was observed concerning (the boy).”
The report also said a teacher and teacher’s assistant said the boy had no unusual issues that day, and the aide had been with him all day.
The investigating officer said the case should be closed “until new evidence or information can be obtained for further follow-up.”
