{"id":204784,"date":"2026-04-21T15:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204784\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:23:08","slug":"flyers-for-israelfest-at-new-york-high-school-ended-up-in-a-urinal-now-the-school-board-president-is-facing-calls-to-resign-the-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204784\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers for ‘IsraelFest’ at New York high school ended up in a urinal. Now the school board president is facing calls to resign. \u2013 The Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Grace Gilson<\/a><\/p>\n

\n April 21, 2026\n <\/p>\n

(JTA<\/a>) \u2014 The school board president in a heavily Jewish suburb of New York City is facing calls to resign after flyers promoting a student-led Israeli culture club event were torn down and later found in a boys\u2019 bathroom urinal last week.<\/p>\n

The flyers advertised an \u201cIsraelFest\u201d event to celebrate Israel\u2019s 78th Independence Day this week at Scarsdale High School. Among those posting photographs of the vandalism was the daughter of the board president, James Dugan. She added a caption: \u201cKeep up the good work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incident quickly drew condemnation from leaders within the school district of the heavily Jewish New York City suburb, including Superintendent Drew Patrick, who wrote in a letter to the community<\/a> that the vandalism \u201cplaces our collective sense of community in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a time of rising antisemitism, political polarization, and a degraded civil discourse,\u201d Patrick wrote. \u201cI want the community to know that we take these complex challenges seriously and work to confront them every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patrick said the district had already been developing a \u201cclear, written set of guidelines regarding student speech and dress at school sponsored student activities,\u201d which will be introduced at a Board of Education meeting on May 11.<\/p>\n

Scarsdale High School Principal Kenneth Bonamo also decried the incident in a letter to the community on Friday, adding that the student government\u2019s Instagram post advertising the event received \u201ctwo replies criticizing the event using vulgar language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonamo said the school\u2019s investigation into the incident was \u201cactive and ongoing,\u201d and that officials were \u201ccurrently interviewing students and reviewing camera footage to identify those involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israeli Culture Club was well within its right to plan this type of an event, for which they sought and received administrative approval,\u2019 Bonamo wrote. \u201cDenigrating the club\u2019s efforts in this way is wholly inconsistent with our values, both as a matter of basic fairness to support appropriate and approved student activities and because these actions constitute antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event promised \u201cIsraeli food (and pizza), drinks and desserts alongside Israeli music and games,\u201d suggesting no focus on current events or geopolitics.<\/p>\n

The incident comes as younger Americans increasingly adopt anti-Israel stances,\u00a0 setting up clashes in places like Scarsdale, where many Jewish families have connections to the country and to Jewish communities. In 2024, two stores in a Scarsdale shopping plaza, one of which had a sign reading \u201cWe stand with Israel\u201d in its window, were targeted with anti-Israel graffiti<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Bonamo added that the school had received \u201cconcerns that the unlabeled map in the flyer seems to include disputed territories as part of the State of Israel.\u201d The map did not delineate the West Bank and Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a core conflict in this debate, one that is worthy of exploration in civil discourse, but responding in this way is still not appropriate,\u201d Bonamo wrote of the map.<\/p>\n

An online petition calling for the students responsible for the vandalism to face \u201cmeaningful disciplinary action\u201d as well as for Dugan\u2019s ouster nearly 1,000 signatures by Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a Board member\u2019s immediate family is directly connected to the approval, encouragement, or defense of antisemitic behavior, it undermines public confidence in the Board\u2019s ability to lead fairly and credibly during moments of crisis,\u201d the petition<\/a> read. \u201cFor that reason, we call for the resignation of any Board of Education member whose household is implicated in supporting these acts.\u201d<\/p>\n

A separate petition calling for the school board to reject calls for Dugan\u2019s resignation drew over 100 signatures.<\/p>\n

Dugan appeared to address his daughter\u2019s post in a letter to the school community on Friday, writing, \u201cRecent events have provided a profound teaching moment for me as a parent and have impacted me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cAs a parent, I will focus on healing my family. But as a school board member, my focus will continue to be on our students, our schools, and our educational program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incident follows others at high schools in the region that have unsettled Jewish students and watchdogs.\u00a0In February, a New York City high schooler was arrested for allegedly sending an email threatening to \u201ckill all the Jews in this school,\u201d<\/a> and earlier this month, students at a Connecticut Catholic school were punished for making antisemitic posts about a rival hockey team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared<\/a> on JTA.org.<\/p>\n

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us. <\/p>\n

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward \u2014 and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.<\/p>\n

The Forward doesn\u2019t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.<\/p>\n

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.<\/p>\n

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