The superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools acknowledged Thursday that the district needs to do more to combat antisemitism, responding to a letter earlier this week from more than 40 local rabbis and cantors who warned that school leaders have failed to adequately address a rise in antisemitic incidents

In his reply, Superintendent Thomas Taylor called the school district’s recent response after a swastika was drawn on a student’s desk last month at Walter Johnson High School a “misstep.” 

“The message to the school community should have explicitly identified the swastika as an antisemitic symbol and named the nature of the harm more directly,” he wrote. 

The swastika incident followed several other antisemitic acts in recent months, according to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, including inflammatory anti-Israel messaging at Olney Elementary School’s cultural night, “Heil Hitler” gestures and speech occurring at middle school events, and “physical threats and harassment directed toward Jewish students at multiple schools.” 

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Maryland is ranked 5th in the nation for school-based antisemitism, and 84% of those incidents are in Montgomery County, which is home to more than 35 active synagogues and has the largest Jewish population in the state. 

Thomas pledged to establish an ongoing dialogue with local Jewish leaders to identify concrete steps for combating antisemitism.. He also said the district was committed to addressing concerns about staff training, student education and harmful social media behavior. 

He pointed to new mandatory antisemitism awareness training for all MCPS staff and said Chief Equity and Organizational Development Officer Nyah Hamlett, who was appointed to the district last year, would lead a series of discussions with Jewish community leaders, with Taylor remaining directly involved. 

Taylor went on to push back on the notion that the increase in reported incidents necessarily reflects an increase in antisemitism itself. He says the numbers are “in part” attributable to increased awareness and reporting, while emphasizing that this “does not diminish the seriousness” of the incidents. 

The JCRC, which told Jewish Insider it organized the initial letter after rabbis expressed concern following an antisemitism town hall that Taylor held at Temple Beth Ami in Rockville last spring, responded on Thursday that the group “appreciates MCPS’ prompt reply to Jewish clergy in our area who raised serious concerns about antisemitism in our schools.”

The group called on school leaders to urgently adopt recommendations it has advocated for years. 

“JCRC’s teacher and administrator training programs are available right now. Our Holocaust speakers have presentations ready right now. Our Student to Student peer leaders are willing and able to talk about their experiences right now. These programs are effective and free of charge to MCPS.” 

On behalf of the Jewish clergy that signed the initial letter, Rabbi Adam Raskin, who leads Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, wrote back to Taylor, “We agree that repeated collaborative dialogue is essential. We propose a meeting in the very near future so that there are no unnecessary delays in identifying and implementing corrective actions.”