Regular Meeting

About 20 public speakers addressed antisemitic bullying at Southern Hills Middle School, the district's response, and the ADL Title VI complaint. Students described years of unaddressed harassment and a 2025 assault that led to a federal complaint naming BVSD among the worst districts for Jewish students out of 13,000 nationwide.

“the ADL picked you out as one of the worst six districts for Jewish students out of 13,000 districts across the country”

Several parents, including Lisa Kungl and Tracy Burgerer, opposed BVSD partnering with the ADL and adopting the IHRA definition, saying the process lacked transparency and asking for a Title VI advisory panel with Jewish parents who hold varied views, including critics of the ADL and IHRA.

Other parents, including Gi Bay and Rafe First, defended the IHRA definition and asked the board to commit to a firm date for adopting it, to publish a real-time public incident tracking system, and to create a formal Jewish parents advisory committee like the existing Latino parents committee.

A parent named Sunny described her son's unaddressed anti-gay bullying at Southern Hills three years earlier and said the district's culture protects itself from accountability rather than protecting marginalized students of all kinds.

Board members Bucher, Medler, and Unger thanked speakers and outlined a two-track response: immediate administrative actions already underway that do not need board action, and a slower policy track, including adopting a definition of antisemitism, that Unger said should not take much longer.

“we we will act on policy... it takes a long time for policy to impact the culture in schools”

Medler said the district's current strategic plan measures, such as disparities in exclusionary discipline and restorative justice participation, do not clearly show whether bullying is being caught and addressed, and said he wants better measures of student safety and inclusion.

Medler questioned the Horizons K8 charter renewal's waiver of district and school accountability committee rules, saying the replacement plan does not adequately preserve parent input, and asked Superintendent Anderson to follow up with the school.

“I don't really see a great replacement of the parental part of that school improvement discussion”

Anderson said the contract requires an accountability committee consistent with board policy and state law even if waiver language differs, and committed to following up with Horizons. Medler separately raised concern that BVSD is finalizing charter contracts after they have already expired.

Superintendent Anderson said BVSD has lost enrollment since 2018 and projects 1,700 fewer students over the next five years, a total decline of more than 5,000 students since 2017. He said the board will hear a resilient schools proposal at a 3 p.m. work session the following week.