Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Upstate New York Schools Sued Over Anti-Semitism

The Pine Bush school district in upstate New York is being sued by several parents who claim their children were subject to anti-Semitic bullying and harassment, the New York Times reported.

Swastikas proliferated all over school grounds and students’ notebooks, and teachers or school officials reortedly did not intervene, despite myriad complaints from both students and their parents, the parents told the Times.

The former superintendent of the school district , Philip G. Steinberg, called the lawsuit a “money grab” and that the allegations are “embellished.”

A lawyer for the district says they have “responded diligently” to reports of anti-Semitic behavior, including bringing in Holocaust survivors to speak to school assemblies, and holding anti-bullying training for students and teachers.

Pine Bush schools serve parts of Sullivan, Ulster and Orange counties, west of Newburgh and about 90 minutes drive from New York City.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.