A Herndon private school has settled a lawsuit with a Jewish family who claimed that the school discriminated against their children due to their religion, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced today (Tuesday).
The Nysmith School will provide just shy of $150,000 in monetary relief to the family, in addition to “implementing new policies and procedures” after allegedly expelling three students who complained of antisemitic harassment from their peers, the attorney general said.
“Every child deserves to learn in an environment free from hate, intimidation, or fear,” Miyares said in a statement. “No child should feel unsafe or unwelcome in a classroom in Virginia, and no parent should fear retaliation for defending their child.”
Great Falls residents Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy filed a complaint with Miyares’s office on June 30 alleging that Nysmith School expelled all three of their children on March 13 — two days after they urged Head of School Ken Nysmith to address harassment that their 11-year-old daughter was experiencing.
Among other incidents, classmates allegedly taunted the 11-year-old for being “Israeli” and about the death of her uncle, saying he was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, though he died years earlier, according to the Brandeis Center, which represented the family.
The school also canceled an annual visit by a Holocaust survivor and installed a Palestinian flag in the gym, alongside flags from other nations, including Israel, the complaint says.
“[The family] had no objection to the hanging of a Palestinian flag. However, they were concerned that doing so without first addressing the anti-Semitic harassment of their daughter would only make the situation worse,” the complaint said. “They also did not understand why Mr. Nysmith thought that hosting a Holocaust speaker would inflame emotions but hanging a Palestinian flag would not.”
Vazquez and Roy allege in the complaint that Ken Nysmith dismissed their concerns in a meeting on March 11, and two days later, they were informed via email that all three of their students were expelled from the school.
According to Miyares, the school’s decision to enter a settlement agreement with the family showed a “willingness to resolve the matter by implementing a robust process of review,” and resulted in an “amicable resolution.”
As part of the settlement, the school will also issue a non-discrimination statement saying it “regrets” expelling the students, establish a committee to “evaluate, review, investigate, and recommend appropriate dispositions of discrimination complaints” and provide antisemitism training for both staff and students.
The training will be led by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington, the Brandeis Center said in its own statement announcing the settlement.
“The School will engage an independent monitor to review the committee’s work and will provide staff annual antisemitism training and provide students annual age-appropriate education on antisemitism and the Holocaust, for the duration of the five-year term,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
According to Miyares’s office, Nysmith School has agreed to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which is used by the U.S. but has been criticized by some human rights organizations and free speech advocates as overly broad, conflating discrimination with criticism of Israeli policies.
FFXnow has reached out to Head of School Ken Nysmith for comment.
Located at 13625 Eds Drive just east of Dulles International Airport, Nysmith School serves students throughout the D.C. area in preschool through eighth grade.
