Lawsuit, letter allege persistent antisemitism at private high school in S.F.

A parent who withdrew his daughter from San Francisco University High School after a “documented pattern of antisemitic incidents that created legitimate safety concerns for her well-being” has detailed those problems in a lawsuit filed against the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports.

The lawsuit, filed last month, claims that this was not an isolated case and that a number of Jewish families at the private school submitted “dozens of documented safety incidents” to administrators throughout the previous academic year. Some were reported to the police, according to the lawsuit. The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to J.’s request for information.

The concerns were brought to the attention of Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, who wrote a letter to the head of school and the board in July, asking for a meeting to discuss ways to improve the campus climate for Jewish families and students. No meeting followed, according to JCRC.

“Over the past 18 months, we have received numerous reports from current and former University students, families, and prospective parents describing persistent and troubling incidents of antisemitism at UHS,” Gregory wrote in the July 8 letter, which was shared with J. “Despite repeated efforts by families to engage school leadership, many feel their concerns have not been adequately addressed, leaving Jewish students and their families feeling unheard, unsafe, and marginalized.”

According to JCRC, those challenges intensified in the last weeks of the school year and included “repeated inappropriate, antisemitic remarks and actions by faculty,” “marginalization and targeting of Jewish students” and “lack of accountability and sensitivity.”

“UHS is facing some of the most serious antisemitism issues reported among independent schools in the Bay Area,” Gregory wrote. JCRC declined an interview with J.

Bart Schachter filed the lawsuit against the North Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation on behalf of his daughter, a varsity athlete in track and tennis. She has been limited to competing in only half of the fall and spring seasons at her new private school due to rules set by CIF, which regulates sports in public and private high schools statewide.

Schachter had requested a “hardship waiver,” which applies to transfer students who have experienced hardships such as discrimination at their former schools. The CIF waiver would have allowed his daughter to compete fully in both seasons, but he alleges it was denied after the UHS interim head of school “refused to validate” the reported antisemitic and safety incidents to the CIF commissioner. He wants the decision reversed.

“This retaliation by UHS is impeding both her social integration as well as her shot at college sport,” Schachter said in an email to J.

About 500 students attend UHS, a prestigious college-prep school with tuition and fees topping $65,000. A recent graduate told J. that a large number of the students there are Jewish.

While antisemitic incidents in Bay Area public schools have spurred lawsuits and complaints to the state, less is known about the extent of backlash against Jewish students in private schools since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack and ensuing war.

In late May, during a UHS event where perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were discussed, Jewish students were mocked when expressing their views, “with no meaningful response from the UHS administration despite complaints,” Schachter alleged in his lawsuit filed in Marin County Superior Court.

Nasif Iskander, the UHS interim head of school, declined J.’s request for an interview and declined to answer specific questions via email. Later, in a general statement sent to J., Iskander pushed back on the allegations of persistent antisemitism.

“At San Francisco University High School, we want every student of every background to know they are safe, and treated with respect and fairness. We strongly disagree with the allegations the student’s parents have raised about our school in connection with their petition to CIF,” Iskander wrote. “UHS has robust and effective programs and policies to provide students an uplifting learning environment free of antisemitism and other discrimination.”

Schachter noted that while UHS is “not currently a party to the Marin lawsuit,” the school could, with “a single sentence,” make things right for his daughter.

UHS “can easily enable our daughter to play varsity sports by simply acknowledging to CIF the incidents we reported,” Schachter wrote, “as we have pleaded with them to do for months.”