Students at Cooper Middle School in Fairfax County, Va., heard a talk from Frank Cohn, a Holocaust survivor and United States Army veteran, earlier this week. In advance of the event, the school sent out an email letting parents know their children would be allowed to opt out of attending the speech.
“We understand that all students have different experiences,” the email read. “If you prefer to opt your child out from participating in this presentation, please email your child’s history teacher and they will be provided an alternate assignment.”
After Fairfax County Public Schools and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington issued statements addressing the controversy, it appears the opt-out offer was meant to “protect” Jewish students, a motive Cooper Middle School did not mention in its email.
The school district, in a statement given to the Daily Wire, said the middle school invites a Holocaust survivor to talk with students every year, but that “some Jewish students have previously expressed discomfort while engaging in dialogue around this visit” and argued that “this opt-out allows the family the opportunity to make the best informed decision on behalf of their student.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, which partnered with Cooper Middle School to organize the event, said in its own statement that the “the opt-out was designed specifically for Jewish families due to Jewish children in the past being subjected to bullying, teasing, taunting, and other forms of unacceptable behavior specifically during Holocaust-related lessons and programming.”
The explanation continued:
In JCRC’s extensive experience working with local schools, we have heard these concerns time and again from Jewish families. It is deeply disturbing that antisemitic harassment continues, and that schools must in some cases resort to these types of measures in an attempt to protect Jewish children . . . We are pleased that no Cooper student requested to opt out of today’s program based on the subject matter.
Fairfax County’s public schools have been hit with incidents of antisemitism since October 7, with one town’s parents and community members rallying outside the school administration building in protest of the district’s handling of harassment of Jewish students.