Nysmith allegedly allowed antisemetic bullying and expelled the kids who's parents complained

[Anonymous]

I’m not clicking on your link but yes obviously if the kids are smiling next to a portrait of hitler clearly that’s a huge problem! That doesn’t mean we have to accept every nuance of the complaint like a bunch of slack jawed dopes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As another poster said, it sounds like no adults acted well.

The Hitler drawing should not have been allowed by the teacher. There was probably some comments criticizing the state of Israel that the parents complaint about. And then it all snowballed from there, because everyone lost their tempers, including the Head.

I think we can all agree that the students who were expelled are the victims. Of all the adults.

If we are speculating I agree it’s very plausible there were comments about the state of Israel and equally plausible that there were or were also comments that the IDF is doing a bang up job and all the people they’ve killed are “bad guys.”

Do you not view Hamas as bad guys? Maybe you should stop getting your news from TikTok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As another poster said, it sounds like no adults acted well.

The Hitler drawing should not have been allowed by the teacher. There was probably some comments criticizing the state of Israel that the parents complaint about. And then it all snowballed from there, because everyone lost their tempers, including the Head.

I think we can all agree that the students who were expelled are the victims. Of all the adults.

If we are speculating I agree it’s very plausible there were comments about the state of Israel and equally plausible that there were or were also comments that the IDF is doing a bang up job and all the people they’ve killed are “bad guys.”

Do you not view Hamas as bad guys? Maybe you should stop getting your news from TikTok.

Maybe you didnt notice the word “all” in that comment. Maybe you should read more carefully.

[Anonymous]

The complaint is fully public, as are the names of the parents issuing it (Brian Vasquez and Ashok Roy), so it makes no sense for DCUM to remove that and your comment must have been removed for another reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As another poster said, it sounds like no adults acted well.

The Hitler drawing should not have been allowed by the teacher. There was probably some comments criticizing the state of Israel that the parents complaint about. And then it all snowballed from there, because everyone lost their tempers, including the Head.

I think we can all agree that the students who were expelled are the victims. Of all the adults.

If we are speculating I agree it’s very plausible there were comments about the state of Israel and equally plausible that there were or were also comments that the IDF is doing a bang up job and all the people they’ve killed are “bad guys.”

Do you not view Hamas as bad guys? Maybe you should stop getting your news from TikTok.

Maybe you didnt notice the word “all” in that comment. Maybe you should read more carefully.

It is unfortunate that Hamas leadership has chosen to hide behind potentially innocent civilians (some of whom were harboring the kidnapping victims from the Nova concert). Did you cry for the innocents in Dresden? The IDF has taken greater pains to avoid indiscriminate harm than any army ever. Hamas, in the meantime, is profiteering off of the aid being offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The IDF has taken greater pains to avoid indiscriminate harm than any army ever. Hamas, in the meantime, is profiteering off of the aid being offered.

That is incredibly untrue

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-soldiers-ordered-to-shoot-deliberately-at-unarmed-gazans-waiting-for-humanitarian-aid/00000197-ad8e-de01-a39f-ffbe33780000

[Anonymous]

The actual assignment:

Machiavelli's The Prince: Six Traits Analysis
*Classwork*
100 points

Part 1:

1. Read the attached pdf of excerpts from Machiavelli's book the Prince. With your group members, analyze the key
piece of advice Machiavelli is suggesting leaders should follow and identify the trait it represents. Present your section
to the class.

2. Listen to all student presentations and the following discussions. Assemble a list of the 6 key traits and the advice
attached to each.

3. Revise your list to make sure all 6 traits and pieces of advice are correct.

Part 2:

1. Take your group's assigned trait and find a world leader (current or historical) that best embodies the trait you are
assigned. List your chosen leader, the trait you are assigned, and evidence of what your leader did that proves he/she
embodies that trait.

2. After the completion of all above, select a part of the body (first come fist served) that your group will illustrate your
leader and his/her trait on. Choices are: head, torso, left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. Decorate that part of the body
with images or symbols of the leader and/or what they did to embody your assigned trait.

[Anonymous]

In reading the complaint and seeing the picture, I don't know how the school can have allowed it. Even if some of the things in the complaint are exaggerated, that picture speaks volumes. I am absolutely horrified at this. I also wonder if there is more than anti Semitism at play since both parents are men, so clearly a same sex couple....

there's a link to the complaint with the image here: https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Vazquez-and-Roy-v.-Nysmith-School.-Virginia-Attorney-General-Office-of-Civil-Rights_Redacted-1.pdf

I am very pro Palestine and not supportive of Israel's actions, but this feels pretty cut and dry to me. Hitler - wrong. Anti Semitism - wrong. Teasing a child for being Jewish - wrong. End of story. There is not nuance around some things.

We can debate all day about whether or not Israel is perpetrating a genocide, whether or not anti Zionism is equivalent to anti Semitism, and many other things. But harassing a child (or any person) for being Jewish, doing class projects about Hitler? Come on. This is obviously unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Complaints are always one-sided. I can't imagine a school that has been around as long as Nysmith that would not be measured in its response when claims of anti-Semitism are made, especially in this political environment. Expelling the students seems like a radical thing to do - there must have been some reason. So - I take this complaint with a grain of salt and look forward to the school's side of the story before prejudging.

There is no justifying or rationalizing the behavior of this principal. In the pettiest way possible he expelled three kids in the middle of the school year, under --at minimum-- highly questionable circumstances.

"By March 13, Nysmith decided to expel all three Jewish family members from the school.

"After reflecting on our emotional conversation on Tuesday, the words used make it clear that you have a profound lack of trust in both me and the school," Nysmith wrote, according to a copy of the email included in the complaint. "I felt very clearly that you do not think Nysmith is the right school for your family, and the longer we try to ignore that reality, the more pain it will cause your children. With this in mind, I regret to inform you that today will be your children’s last day at Nysmith."

Source: https://freebeacon.com/america/prestigious-virginia-k-8-school-hit-with-civil-rights-complaint-over-environment-hostile-to-jews/

Exactly this. To dismiss the family, effective immediately, apparently without warning or even a previous conversation, is suspect.

It sounds like there were other conversations.

It sounds like there was an “emotional” exchange, and I wonder if the parents crossed the lines of civility. I have seen private school parents yell at administrators and have heard of parents posing threats, including against the administrators’ family members.

I can see the parents being upset and angry given the provocations and what may have been an egregiously incompetent response to anti-Semitism. However, the one power that private schools have that public’s don’t is that they sign a contract that says their kids can be booted out for any reason at the discretion of the Head of School.

What I read between the lines is that the parents may have insulted the HOS, possibly called him an incompetent idiot (which he probably is). Unfortunately, you don’t get to disrespect a HOS and stay at his school.

His and Nysmith’s defense will probably be that they were trying to respond to the bullying but that the parents’ behavior was unacceptable. The contract will back Nysmith up legally, which is why hr HOS probably felt comfortable booting them out.

Not saying it’s right. Just saying this is the private school playbook. I’ve seen it be used against people of color for years. Your child can be the victim of blatant, horrible racism but god forbid you raise your voice in a meeting with the HOS.

Where exactly is the "line of civility" for a Jewish parent who watched his kids endure this? I'd be in there guns blazing if a school allowed this type of behavior.

You can’t raise your voice. You can’t insult the HOS. You can’t be anything but calm and perfectly in control.

Again, not saying this is right. It’s just the way it works.

Reading the complaint, Paragraph 26 asserts the parents did not raise their voices or speak disrespectfully to the HOS.

However, the HOS seems to have heard something they said as calling him anti-Semitic.

Disrespect is subjective. Being an a$$hole and not letting a child pick up a prize they earned or their personal possessions until a suitable time is unfortunately not illegal. The first time I dealt with a discrimination case, a senior lawyer told me that unfortunately being an a$$hole is not actionable. Sadly, this is true.

Brandeis may have taken the case on not because they could win it but because it’s a case where anti-Semitism is hiding behind the protective walls of private school independence. Even if no damages are won, plaintiffs win something by damaging Nysmith the school and Nysmith the HOS’ reputations.

The photo of the kids smiling around a life-size drawing of Hitler is shocking.

However, unless plaintiffs can prove that Nysmith took no measures to address the anti-Semitism, which will be nearly impossible, the case will turn on the contract in which parents agree that they and their children can be dismissed from a school for any reason deemed suitable by the HOS. I haven’t seen Nysmith’s specific contract but almost all private school contracts contain this clause.

[Anonymous]

Look, the school may be a den of antisemitism as far as I know but I think it’s disingenuous to refer to the kids as having identified Hitler as a “strong historical leader” without adding the context that it was in regard to course work about Machiavelli and characteristics he espoused.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of time and room for criticism of Israel and Netanyahu. That's not what this is. Anyone who says otherwise is the problem.

[Anonymous]

Trump will go after them for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the school may be a den of antisemitism as far as I know but I think it’s disingenuous to refer to the kids as having identified Hitler as a “strong historical leader” without adding the context that it was in regard to course work about Machiavelli and characteristics he espoused.

Didn't Trump say something about how Hitler did some good things? Then he turned around and told Jews to vote for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the school may be a den of antisemitism as far as I know but I think it’s disingenuous to refer to the kids as having identified Hitler as a “strong historical leader” without adding the context that it was in regard to course work about Machiavelli and characteristics he espoused.

Didn't Trump say something about how Hitler did some good things? Then he turned around and told Jews to vote for him.

And 78% of us didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the school may be a den of antisemitism as far as I know but I think it’s disingenuous to refer to the kids as having identified Hitler as a “strong historical leader” without adding the context that it was in regard to course work about Machiavelli and characteristics he espoused.

Didn't Trump say something about how Hitler did some good things? Then he turned around and told Jews to vote for him.

And 78% of us didn't.

Shocking that 22% did.