Antisemitism, Israel, and Gaza

A public commenter said humanitarian organizations have called the situation in Gaza a genocide and called for divestment in Boulder; similar brief remarks recurred from other speakers during later hearings.

A non-agenda public speaker described a new website, BVSD No Place for Hate, tracking antisemitism reports. She cited an August 18, 2026 board meeting recording with accounts of a Jewish student assaulted at Southern Hills Middle School and said the school's principal did not act on repeated complaints.

A Birch parent said the district was recently sued for antisemitism and questioned whether Superintendent Anderson's public statements on the issue matched district actions, given the surprise closure announcement for Birch.

A public commenter praised Council Member Adams for her divestment stance and criticized the city's investments in Caterpillar, Microsoft, and US Treasury securities as complicity in Gaza, while calling scrutiny of a named city staff member a waste of resources.

A commenter praised council member Taishya Adams for supporting divestment and accused the rest of council of aiding genocide in Gaza through investments in Caterpillar, Microsoft, and US Treasury holdings, and called an unspecified inquiry into a named individual a waste of resources.

Three public commenters, Laura Gonzalez, Evan Rabbitz, and Rob Smoke, urged the city to divest from companies tied to Israel, citing shelter conditions in Gaza and naming Caterpillar as a target. Rob Smoke also described recent primary election losses for AIPAC-backed candidates.

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.

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”

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.

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.

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.

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”

The board studied red-line changes to policy JDHB on bullying, including stronger shall language and a new paragraph on removing a targeted student. Jason Unger objected that removing the targeted student still places the burden on the victim; Nicole Rajpal proposed striking language that overemphasized one protected class. Superintendent Anderson said investigations often cannot substantiate incidents and that the district is standing up a centralized Title VI response team regardless of the final policy wording.

The board studied red-line changes to policy AC adding antisemitism to the nondiscrimination policy. Deann Bucher and other members objected to the draft definition's grammar and structure, and asked for a clearer, parallel definition; general counsel Kristen Edgar said no federal or state legal definition of antisemitism exists yet. The board agreed to take more time, seek legal guidance in executive session, and hold a future work session rather than adopt final language that night.

A large group of speakers, including several self-identified Jewish parents and a rabbi, opposed a district partnership with the ADL and the IHRA definition of antisemitism, arguing both conflate criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism and would chill speech about Gaza. They asked the district to use alternative definitions, such as the Jerusalem Declaration, and other training partners.

More than 20 speakers, including several BVSD students and Jewish parents, described specific incidents including a Chromebook cord used to strangle a Southern Hills student, a swastika carved into a desk, and repeated Holocaust jokes and Nazi salutes. They asked for an independent investigation, mandatory intervention, public reporting, and continued partnership with the ADL and its No Place for Hate program.

Superintendent Anderson apologized to the student and family named in the ADL Title VI complaint and announced a new Title VI district response team, a dedicated web page, a superintendent advisory council, staff training, and a proposed discipline matrix change to remove repeat harassers from their school. He said the district lacked coordinated systems and had been responding to incidents in isolation rather than as a pattern.

During the road-name hearing, the same commenter proposed renaming the road after Palestine, the Sand Creek Massacre, or Indigenous nations instead, and criticized all three commissioners for not condemning the war. A second commenter, who said she is Jewish, argued the city's antisemitism declaration should be withdrawn because no parallel resolution was passed on Palestine.

Taishya Adams asked staff for an update on a May 2026 inquiry about Caterpillar's oil and gas investments and other vendors' investments in private prisons, tobacco, and firearms that may conflict with city investment rules. Staff said it was not picked up as a council priority but came up during budget preparation.

A public commenter demanded the board pass a proclamation calling the war in Gaza a genocide, said the county invests in it, and pressed Commissioners Stolzmann and Levy by name to say whether they consider it genocide. She also raised the distinction between Zionism and Judaism.

“I demand that you at least pass a proclamation about the genocide in Gaza”

Evan Rabbitz said Boulder invests in companies including Caterpillar and BAE profiting from the Gaza war and criticized the Fort Chambers memorial plan as historically inaccurate. Rob Smoke and James Duncan also called for the city to divest roughly $38 million from companies tied to the war, citing UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

A speaker said she received a suspension until December for being cut off while raising Palestinian issues during open comment and criticized the mayor and most of council over the city's response to the Gaza war.