Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland allegedly skirted public-records requests from Parents Defending Education (PDE), the parental-rights organization told National Review.
When the Maryland Jewish Alliance sent a records request to MCPS requesting emails “discussing Israel and the war from Northwood High School’s principal during the week of [a school] protest,” the district said that it found that “no responsive records” exist. Parents Defending Education got the same response when it submitted a similar records request — but PDE obtained an email record from a community member with knowledge of the situation, proving that the high school’s principal knew about the school’s anti-Israel walkout and issued staff guidance on how to address the situation with students.
Northwood High School’s Muslim Student Association hosted the walkout on November 17. Students held signs during the walkout that read, “When people are occupied resistance is justified,” and, “It’s not a war, it’s a genocide.” According to the records that Parents Defending Education obtained, “Northwood admin, security, and deans [supported the protest] at the field as neutral safety observers.”
“Antisemitism is a pervasive problem in school districts across the country. Parents deserve to know how school administrators are handling rampant antisemitism in their schools,” Casey Ryan, PDE’s investigative reporter, said in a statement. “We have seen the lives of Jewish students endangered in recent months across the nation as public schools try to sweep the problem under the rug. MCPS officials know this bigotry is a growing issue in their schools and need to be transparent with parents on how they intend to handle it. Hiding the truth is unacceptable.”
MCPS has faced criticism from teachers and families who say the district’s response to Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the activism that ensued on school campuses throughout America was lackluster. Brooke Meshel, a Jewish high school teacher at Montgomery County Public Schools, sponsored her school’s Muslim Student Association until students organized an anti-Israel walkout, during which they chanted “Bring back Hitler!” and “Kill the Jews!” Although Meshel reported the comments to school administrators and asked the school to send an e-mail to the community condemning such comments, she said the school did not act on her concerns.
The district has also seen an uptick in antisemitic hate crimes since October, and PDE has obtained records from district staff members that display alarming bias against Israel.