<\/p>\n
The Alcuin School pictured, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Elias Valverde II\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
A family is suing Alcuin School, a prominent private school in Dallas, accusing the school of repeated failure to adequately address incidents of antisemitism<\/a> at school events and in the classroom. The school is pushing back on the characterization and plans to fight the allegations in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lawsuit, filed in Dallas County District Court in March against Alcuin and current and former school officials, is seeking $10 million in damages, alleging breach of contract, fraud and negligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Alcuin is one of the highest rated private high schools in the Dallas-Forth Worth area<\/a>, according to Niche’s 2026 list. The school has an early childhood center and teaches students through high school. Its middle school and high school offer an International Baccalaureate program, which is an internationally recognized degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n The father, referred to as John Doe in court documents as his daughter is a minor, said the school failed to provide a safe environment for Jewish students. The original complaint lists examples over the past two years, which the father says were not addressed according to the school\u2019s own standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAntisemitic acts should never be allowed at school,\u201d Larry Friedman, an attorney representing the father, said in a statement. \u201cThey perpetuate harmful stereotypes, create a hostile educational environment and cause significant emotional and psychological distress.\u201d<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The school, in an email response to The Dallas Morning News, said the filing \u201cmischaracterizes numerous events,\u201d including some that \u201chave no basis in fact or did not occur as stated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Campiti said the school has \u201cno place for antisemitism\u201d or any form of discrimination.\u00a0<\/p>\n The News left phone and email messages seeking comment with the seven defendants in the lawsuit, and one referred The News to Campiti\u2019s statement. The News also left messages with current and former Alcuin staff who are mentioned in the lawsuit but are not defendants. One former employee declined to comment when reached by email.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Texas AG probes Plano ISD after reports of antisemitic, anti-Israel rhetoric in classrooms<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawsuit alleges timeline of offenses<\/p>\n The lawsuit alleges Alcuin did not properly address antisemitism at the school starting in the wake of the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel<\/a>, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In November 2023, Alcuin staff took down posters near the school, but not on school grounds,\u00a0 advocating for the rescue of the hostages taken from Israel while parents were dropping children off at school. According to the complaint, the staff members at the time said the posters were \u201cupsetting parents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The senior rabbi at Congregation Shaare Tefilla, a synagogue that neighbors Alcuin, told The News the removal of the hostage posters upset many members of the neighborhood and his congregation. Rabbi Ariel Rackovsky, who is not a party in the lawsuit, said the posters were posted on public telephone poles on the road adjacent to the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAlcuin is in the heart of a heavily Jewish neighborhood,\u201d Rackovsky said in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n The posters included the word \u201cKIDNAPPED,\u201d and staff members worried that young students would become frightened, which is why they removed the posters, Campiti said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When senior school leaders learned of what happened, they investigated and met\u00a0 with local rabbis to apologize for \u201cthe harm that had been done and better understand \u2026 the full impact of the event.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The school also placed the staff members they believed removed the posters on administrative leave. Eventually, those employees officially separated from the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAlcuin believed its remedial action was reasonable and proportional,\u201d Campiti wrote in a statement. \u201cAlcuin acted decisively and responsibly after this incident occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n In another incident, in spring 2024, the school hosted an international festival, the lawsuit says. According to the complaint, a map of Palestine on mock passports depicted a geographical border that the father in the lawsuit said amounted to the erasure of Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The lawsuit does not mention who made the alleged map.\u00a0<\/p>\n The school had an outside investigator conduct a review, Campiti said. Alcuin \u201ccategorically denies\u201d that the map was antisemitic and promised to provide more information in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the 2024 festival, a different parent wore a shirt that said, \u201cBring them Home,\u201d in reference to the hostage crisis. The parent is not named in the lawsuit and is not a party in the case.<\/p>\n The lawsuit says school staff asked the parent to remove her shirt or leave, and she was told she was \u201cmaking people uncomfortable.\u201d According to the complaint, the parent was later told not to return to Alcuin, or her enrolled child would not graduate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The removal of the parent was not based on religion, but her conduct, Campiti said. The parent\u2019s actions were not aligned with the event\u2019s purpose, which was to \u201ccelebrate the school\u2019s unique and wonderfully diverse community.\u201d<\/p>\n In September 2025, at a soccer match between Alcuin and Akiba Yavneh Academy, students from Yavneh reported that Alcuin students used antisemitic slurs during the game, the lawsuit says. An unnamed parent from Yavneh reportedly heard someone from Alcuin\u2019s sideline yell \u201cRemember October 7th\u201d at the Yavneh players, court documents say.\u00a0<\/p>\n Akiba Yavneh Academy did not respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lawsuit accuses Alcuin of not properly addressing the reported comments by students.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Neither of Alcuin\u2019s site administrators observed any comments made, according to the Alcuin statement. Alcuin\u2019s athletic director reminded players about the school’s expectations for behavior, language and respect for opponents, before the soccer game started.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAlcuin\u2019s remedial actions prove it does not and would not tolerate hate speech \u2026 that are contrary to the values it holds as a community,\u201d Campiti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kahoot name\u00a0<\/p>\n In October 2025, the school reported that a student or students playing a Kahoot game chose a username that included a skull and crossbones emoji and the words \u201cto Israel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Kahoot is an online platform popular with schools that often involves trivia and quizzes.\u00a0<\/p>\n The school condemned the username in an email to families dated Oct. 3, 2025, saying the message constituted antisemitism. The email was provided to The News by the plaintiff\u2019s attorneys.<\/p>\n Alcuin School acknowledged that an investigation could not identify who was responsible, but it \u201ctook the incident very seriously.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Experts throughout its investigation, including the North Texas Fusion Center, a federally recognized regional law enforcement coordination effort, concluded there was no \u201ccredible, ongoing or specific threat.\u201d Kahoot could not provide information without a subpoena, Campiti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe declared the student\u2019s action to be antisemitic and wrong and conducted a comprehensive investigation,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement provided through his attorney, the father said his daughter, who is still a student at Alcuin, has feared for her safety after the Kahoot name was used. The father argues in the lawsuit that the offending student or students should be identified.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two examples the lawsuit listed directly involved the father\u2019s daughter, who is not identified in the lawsuit. In September 2025, the lawsuit says the student made a presentation in a current events class on the conflict between Israel and Iran and how it impacted her family. The complaint alleges some students in the class laughed at her presentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no pushback from Alcuin and Plaintiff\u2019s daughter was left feeling the cruelty,\u201d the lawsuit says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Alcuin School said the teacher, who was unnamed in the lawsuit, \u201cresponded with compassion,\u201d saying that he was \u201csorry she felt uncomfortable,\u201d according to Campiti. The teacher did not notice laughter during that presentation \u2014 and another presentation \u2014 by the daughter, Campiti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also in September 2025, the lawsuit says, one of the girl\u2019s teachers compared \u201cAmerican Christians to Nazis\u201d and told the class \u201cAmerica is moving towards Nazi, Germany.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The lawsuit argues these statements trivialize the Holocaust, in which the Nazi regime murdered 6 million Jews.<\/p>\n The teacher’s comments were not “sufficiently\u00a0contextualized from an academic standpoint,” creating discomfort and confusion,\u00a0Campiti said.\u00a0Alcuin is coaching the teacher “about the need for heightened care” when leading discussions about politically or historically-charged comparisons, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n School rejects claims<\/p>\n Campiti said Alcuin has made an effort to create a supportive religious environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, the school leadership team completed professional training on antisemitism and Islamophobia in February and March. The sessions were led by community leaders, including the American Jewish Committee Dallas, the Anti-Defamation League and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, Campiti said. Spokespeople for the three organizations confirmed the training to The News.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese sessions helped school leaders deepen their understanding of how identity-based harm can appear in school communities and how to respond thoughtfully, consistently, and with care,\u201d Campiti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Litigation amplifies bitterness, Campiti said, and works against collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will vigorously defend\u202four\u202fschool and this community in this matter in the court,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab\u2019s journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Alcuin School pictured, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Dallas. Elias Valverde II\/Dallas Morning News A family is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[732,97508,95009,160,162,161,92331,87998,90041,89204,95042,92240,97688],"class_list":{"0":"post-261099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-news-courts","10":"tag-news-faith","11":"tag-plano","12":"tag-plano-headlines","13":"tag-plano-news","14":"tag-tp-courts","15":"tag-tp-dallas","16":"tag-tp-ed-lab-school","17":"tag-tp-education-lab","18":"tag-tp-north-dallas","19":"tag-tp-religion","20":"tag-tp-school-safety"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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