It’s hard to say which is more appalling: that eight high school students laid down in the grass on the San Dieguito Academy High School athletic field and formed the shape of a “human” swastika to display to a Jewish SDA student who was taking a flying lesson and saw the formation from the air, or that administrators at SDA failed to report the incident to the district office and their superintendent.

Despite the Jewish student’s family notifying the school’s assistant principal and principal immediately after it happened, three months went by before this was brought to the attention of San Dieguito Union High School District Superintendent Anne Staffieri – not by SDA administrators but by the nonprofit PeerK12, an outside organization.

PeerK12 co-founders Nicole Bernstein and Tamar Caspi learned of the incident in late August and reported it to the district in September.

Staffieri was appropriately shocked and disturbed by both the antisemitic display and the breach of internal protocol. In her letter to the community, she said in part that “there was a clear and unacceptable breakdown in communication between the school and the district.”

“Those who are outraged, please know that I hear you,” she wrote. “We all know, or should know, that the image of a swastika is hateful and hurtful, and creation of this image is a call to action for our district to double down on our efforts to call out hate when we see it.”

Directly after the incident, according to PeerK12, the parents contacted  the school and left two voicemails, one with Assistant Principal Charles “Chuck” Adams and one with Principal Cara Dolnik, to alert them to the display.

The Jewish student, age 15 and in ninth grade at the time, saw the formation at the end of the school day on Friday, May 30. PeerK12 said the family met with Adams on June 3 and he told them school officials were “upset by the incident” but the family “would have to wait until after summer break” for the issue to be dealt with.

According to PeerK12, the parents were unhappy with the delay but expected some action to be taken when school started this year. But nothing happened. That was when PeerK12 alerted the district to the human swastika display and the inaction of SDA administrators.

Once the news hit social media, the district began receiving emails blasting the district for what was referred to as a hate crime.

This particular email said it bluntly: “This was not some careless act seen by planes flying overhead. It was a pre-planned deliberate act of antisemitic hate. Students intentionally staged a human swastika on the field on the very day one of their Jewish classmates was scheduled to fly overhead with a flight instructor to photograph what he was told would be a ‘smiley face.’”

A number of violations were cited, including various California Education Codes, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause, the Hate Crimes

SDA principal out

What happens to the eight students who formed the human swastika is under wraps so far, but what happened to SDUHSD employees Dolnik and Adams is not.

A Resignation Agreement between the SDUHSD Board of Education and Dolnik, signed Sept. 21 by Dolnik and Sept. 25 by Staffieri, states, “The district and employee have mutually determined that it is in their best interests to terminate their employment relationship … with no admission of fault.”

Terms agreed to include that Dolnik resigns effective May 31, 2026, which means she will continue to receive her full pay and benefits until that date or until she gains “comparable” employment elsewhere.

According to the district, Dolnik’s salary plus benefits is $241,848.

If asked, the district will provide references as follows: “only employee’s dates of employment, employee’s position at the time of resignation, and the fact that employee resigned from employment voluntarily.”

The situation with Adams, who has a less than flattering history with the district, is a bit murkier.

When asked for details of his employment, I was informed by the district on Oct. 8 that Adams “served as Director of Special Education in 2016. Since then, he has held various positions, including Assistant Principal of Middle School, Interim Principal of Middle School, Interim Assistant Principal of High School, and Assistant Principal of High School, a role he has maintained since 2022.”

But that last part is somewhat misleading, because he is currently not serving as assistant principal at any district high school.

On the district’s Oct. 16 board meeting agenda’s Certificated Personnel report, Adams was reassigned from Assistant Principal at SDA to the district office on Sept. 23.

After receiving the Oct. 8 correspondence, I asked the district for his current title and position at the district office. What I was finally told at the last minute is that Adams still retains the title of assistant principal but has been assigned to the district office.

I’m not sure how that figures, but the inner workings of education bureaucracies and human resources departments are a mystery.

I also asked several times for more specific information, including the years he served at each post and at which schools, but to date these requests have not been sufficiently answered.

Adams’ current salary plus benefits is $221,035, according to the district.

Prior concerns

An Education Matters column I wrote in August 2017 centered on facilities proposed for placement at Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach for the district’s Adult Transition Program.

ATPs help students with disabilities, ages 18-22, transition to adult life by focusing on employment, independent living and community skills.

At that time, Adams was SDUHSD’s director of special education and was the district’s point of contact for parents of ATP students.

As the proposed facilities were set to open, parents viewing the portable classrooms strongly objected, saying they were not designed around the needs of special education adult students, with their cramped quarters, poor lighting and single toilets.

At a forum held in July 2017, parents directed their frustrations at Eric Dill, SDUHSD’s superintendent at the time, several saying Adams should have been fired for misleading them and misrepresenting the condition of the Earl Warren ATP facilities.

One parent said the decision to place ATP students in those modular classrooms felt like an after-thought. Several said they felt betrayed.

“We didn’t want to be at Earl Warren,” one parent said at the forum, “but he [Adams] pacified us by saying the [ATP] facilities would be state-of-the-art,” which she said was far from the case.

“We’ve been so hopeful for so long,” said one parent sadly.

To the outrage of many parents, Adams was then reassigned to a different position in the district, as assistant principal at Carmel Valley Middle School.

“Chuck Adams has never had to face any of the parents over this,” one parent said. “We really thought we were being listened to. This just undercut all of that. It tainted the confidence and the trust the special education parents had in our district.”

Dill quickly found three more suitable classrooms at La Costa Canyon High School for the ATP students.

Staff shuffle

After the human swastika debacle came to light, the district re-organized top-level administrators to oversee San Dieguito Academy.

On Sept. 15, Robert Shockney Jr. was reassigned from the district office to Interim Principal at SDA. On Sept. 23, the following assistant principals were moved to SDA: Nathan Reinking from La Costa Canyon and Brianna Castellanos from Canyon Crest Academy. Also, on Sept. 23, Assistant Principal Jaime Garman was moved from SDA to Canyon Crest Academy.

Adams continues to be employed by the district in some capacity. What his responsibilities are now at the district office with the title of high school assistant principal, is unknown.

A $500,000 contract

With reports of intolerance and hate-related incidents on the rise, the district decided that something was needed to increase the sense of belonging and understanding.

So, in November 2023, San Dieguito and San Diego’s National Conflict Resolution Center signed a multi-year agreement, extending from January 2024 through June 2026, to address problems and ease tensions.

Introducing the item at a board meeting, Staffieri said there’s a need to enhance inclusion and belonging in support of academic success, through the training, education, prevention and support services that the NCRC can provide.

“We are looking for sustained change in our culture to become more healthy and increase compassion and kindness,” Staffieri said, addressing the board which approved the contract 4-1 (trustee Phan Anderson opposed).

Steven Dinkin, president of the NCRC, said to the board, “We see conflict, but we’re seeing it more in the K-12 sector than any other segment of society.”

The initiative is named One San Dieguito, and implementation is costing more than $500,000.

As I reported back in 2023, more than $390,000 will come from San Dieguito’s general fund and will be allocated in portions over three fiscal years. The NCRC will contribute $125,000 as part of funding received from the California Department of Health and Human Services.

I asked Dinkin and Staffieri for their thoughts on how the initiative has proceeded, what training has happened, and how they view progress.

“As you are aware, NCRC has a contractual relationship with the district,” Dinkin wrote in an email. “I, thus, ask that you directly reach out to the district for all programmatic related questions. Regarding the human swastika incident, I know that there is an ongoing investigation, so I prefer not to comment on the matter.”

A San Dieguito spokesperson, speaking on behalf of Staffieri, said the NCRC collaboration “has significantly deepened over the past two years” and strides have been made to build “a greater understanding toward a stronger community of belonging and inclusion,” but this work needs continuous improvement.

According to the district, the initiative has proceeded in three phases.

Phase 1 during the 2023-2024 school year established a common language of respect and and offered restorative support at schools.

Phase 2 during the 2024-2025 school year focused on strengthening a culture of belonging. A student forum, a parent engagement night, and numerous school-wide trainings and presentations on effective communication and conflict resolution were held.

Phase 3, this school year, concerns training and support for a uniform response to instances of harm using a process that prioritizes safety and support.

Training sessions

According to the district, last school year the NCRC conducted nearly 150 training sessions for over 1,600 district participants that were designed to equip the community with more inclusive communication skills and effective strategies for intervention.

Additional training sessions are being planned.

On Oct. 28 at Earl Warren Middle School, as part of the One San Dieguito Initiative, the district is hosting a district-wide parent engagement night to strengthen relationships and present how the district is working to respond appropriately to bias-related harm.

Regarding the SDA swastika incident, a four-step community support plan has offered feedback sessions for staff and professional development, led by Sara Brown, regional director of the American Jewish Committee. Future events include a parent engagement night and implementation of feedback from students, staff and parents.

This ongoing program is offered by SDUHSD in collaboration with the NCRC and the AJC.

Taxpayer money

There will always be those foolish kids who do what they do – either thoughtlessly or intentionally. But there are those other kids who instinctively know when hate-related harm is being done. That’s where a pro-active approach is needed, to give those students tools to intervene successfully

And it should go without saying that staff should be able to recognize hateful actions and words and understand the proper way to address such situations. The district has strict policies in place for staff to follow, but it would seem not every administrator knows this. This is not just baffling but really inexcusable.

As the district said in an email, “This work of enhancing belonging and addressing instances of hate and harm as they occur is ongoing and remains important.”

The district is investing nearly $400,000 of taxpayer money in efforts to sensitize students and staff to hurtful discrimination. Whether this money is well-spent is yet up for debate.

Education writer and opinion columnist Marsha Sutton can be reached at suttonmarsha@gmail.com.

Marsha Sutton is a columnist and presents her opinion. Column: Combines reporting, storytelling and commentary to make a point. Unlike reporters, columnists are allowed to include their opinions.