Private DC-area school expels siblings after parents report antisemitic bullying — lawsuit

A top US private school in Northern Virginia is accused of expelling three Jewish students after their parents complained about repeated incidents of antisemitic bullying.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Dillon PLLC said Tuesday they had filed a complaint against Nysmith School for the Gifted, located an hour outside of Washington, DC, saying the decision violates the Virginia Human Rights Act.

Nysmith is considered one of the best elementary schools in the United States, and charges annual tuition of more than $46,000 per year. It is not clear how many of its approximately 500 students are Jewish.

According to the complaint, bullies taunted the 11-year-old daughter of Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy for being “Israeli,” called Jews “baby killers” and said they deserved to die because of what is happening in Gaza.

“The bullies told their daughter that everyone at the school is against Jews and Israel, which is why they hate you,” the Brandeis Center said in a statement. “The other children also taunted her about the death of her uncle, saying that they were glad he died in the October 7th attack, even though he had died years earlier.”

The Times of Israel has repeatedly contacted Nysmith, but has not received a response. A letter sent by the headmaster to US media outlets said that information circulating online “is not complete,” and that he was not aware of any legal action against the school.

According to the complaint, the sixth-grade girl’s history class had created a large artistic image of Adolf Hitler to represent an image of a “strong historical leader” in October 2024. The parents spoke with other parents about the matter and decided not to complain at the time, assuming it was an isolated instance of poor judgment, the complaint said.

In February 2025, a classmate’s mother tipped off Vazquez about “a disturbing pattern of harassment and bullying.” When he asked his daughter about it, she immediately began sobbing, the complaint said.

“Children placed pro-Palestine stickers on school-issued laptops and lockers, and pointed at their stickers and taunted her for being ‘Israeli,'” the complaint reported her saying. “In front of her classmates, the bullying children looked at [her], and called Jews ‘baby killers,’ and said that they deserve to die because of what is happening in Gaza.”

Vazquez met with the owner and headmaster of the school, Kenneth Nysmith, about the bullying and discrimination, and Nysmith allegedly said he would handle the issue.

However, no action was taken, and in the following weeks, the school canceled its annual talk with a Holocaust survivor, which the headmaster allegedly claimed was done to avoid inflaming tensions, and hung a Palestinian flag in the gym, the complaint said. Meanwhile, the harassment of the girl got even worse.

After the parents complained to the school a second time in March 2025, the headmaster allegedly told the parents to tell their daughter to “toughen up.” Two days later, the headmaster sent the parents an email saying that all three of their children – a son in the second grade and two daughters in the sixth grade – were expelled, effective immediately.

“The words used [in the meeting] make it clear that you have a profound lack of trust in both me and the school,” the email said. “I do not see a path forward without trust, understanding and cooperation. In our meeting, 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.”

The lawsuit noted that all three children were high-achieving students with no disciplinary issues.

Antisemitic incidents in the US have soared since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023. A record 9,354 cases of harassment, vandalism and assault were recorded against Jews and Jewish institutions in 2024, or more than one every hour, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

“The actions of Nysmith School against these three young children are disgraceful,” said Brandeis Center chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Through its actions, the administration sent a clear message: bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families. In addition to action from legal authorities, it is high time for public moral outrage; the normalization of antisemitism must stop.”

The Brandeis Center is suing the school to refund tuition costs to the parents and take steps to eliminate its “hostile environment,” including providing training to combat antisemitism.

In the past year, the Brandeis Center has filed complaints about antisemitism against other schools, including Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Yale University and Scripps College, as well as the Fulton County School District in Georgia.