Is the San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) System Officially Broken?

September 21, 2025

When Jewish parents in the San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) asked Torrey Pines High School (TPHS) Principal three simple safety questions after the Human Swastika incident at San Dieguito Academy, the answer they received was disappointing and surprising.

Below, PeerK12 will analyze the shocking discrepancies in those statements. We will provide a point-by-point breakdown of what these Jewish parents asked, how the principal responded, what SDUHSD policy actually requires, and why the district handled it so poorly (AGAIN).

The ensuing contrast and contradictions make one thing painfully clear: SDUHSD principals are not equipped -- or are simply unwilling? -- to follow their own district policies when hate incidents target their Jewish students.

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The Superintendent’s Email Regarding the Recent Antisemitic Hate Crime Incident

An excerpt:

Last May, a group of students created the image of a swastika in a human formation on the athletic field. This *image was seen and captured by a fellow student, who is Jewish, while flying a plane overhead at the time. Deeply and understandably alarmed by the image, the student’s family reported the incident to the San Dieguito Academy administration. However, and unfortunately, the incident was not brought to the attention of the San Dieguito Union High School District administrators until late last month. I share this point not to deflect responsibility but to clarify that there was a clear and unacceptable breakdown in communication between the school and the District. Once I became aware of the image, we took action to work with the families of the students involved and immediately launched an investigation, which is still ongoing. Additionally, we have reviewed and amplified our efforts to remind all students and staff that hate in any form will not be tolerated on our campuses.*

PEERK12 FACT CHECK

The human swastika formation was done as a targeted act. The Jewish student didn't just happen to be flying overhead - the other students knew a Jewish student would be flying overhead, and that is why they formed the human swastika.

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Our Call to Action

In PeerK12’s update about this incident that same Thursday afternoon, we urged parents to reach out to their own principals. This was to ensure that proper protocols were in place at their own school in the event that a similar incident were to occur.

Jewish parents wasted NO TIME in reaching out to their school principals with our recommended questions.

The responses started to be forwarded to us within 24 hours from high schools across the country. One response stood out because it came from a school within the same District where the human swastika incident occurred.

Here is what we learned...

Torrey Pines High School Case Study

Torrey Pines is the high school in the SDUHSD that is not only the largest in terms of student body numbers but also the one with the most Jewish students in this School District.

We had hoped the response from the Principal would reflect not only this high concentration of Jewish students at TPHS but also the sensitive nature of this issue. This issue shares the same school board, Superintendent, and District protocols as San Dieguito Academy, where the human swastika incident occurred.

Below is a sample email (with names redacted) from those Jewish parents, as well as the "cut and pasted" response from the Torrey Pines principal (confirmed as such by each parent we spoke to who had received the exact same cut/paste response from this principal):

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Hi Principal Coppo,

Our son/daughter, [NAME REDACTED], is a [REDACTED] grader at Torrey Pines.

• Could you please let me know what the Torrey Pines policy is if an antisemitic hate crime occurs on the TPHS campus?

• What is the protocol and required steps and timelines for notifications?

• What should Jewish parents expect if (when??) something similar happens to our kids at Torrey?

Thank you,

[NAME REDACTED]

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A Play by Play Breakdown of the Response & Why We Are Concerned

PARENT QUESTION 1:

"What is the Torrey Pines High School policy if an antisemitic hate crime occurs on campus?"

PEERK12 ANALYSIS

Clubs and slogans do not constitute a safety plan.

Serving up that gobbledygook the day after a major antisemitic incident and subsequent epic reporting failure by the district makes it seem like this principal is purposefully dodging a direct safety question.

What we can’t figure out is why?

This district actually does have clear policies on discrimination. Pretending otherwise signals either an outright refusal of transparency or complete ignorance about them.

Either way, it’s unacceptable when students (including the Jewish ones) are at risk.

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PARENT QUESTION 2:

“What is the protocol and required steps and timelines for notifications?”

PEERK12 ANALYSIS

Parents need a clear, immediate way to report. When asked this very specific question, the Principal made no attempt to share the general district process for complaints. He offered no helpful links, no steps to take, no timelines to expect, no who-does-what to clarify, and no how-to-report - nothing.

Once again, we were left scratching our heads at the lack of transparency and information given by the principal. This is especially concerning considering SDUHSD actually outlines all of these protocols on the district website. There is even a dedicated full-time staffer who handles all district incidents (including the antisemitic ones). This role was insisted upon by SDUHSD Board Trustee Michael Allman when PeerK12 worked with him on writing and passing the Resolution Addressing Antisemitism and Affirming the Value of Jewish Students, Faculty, Staff, and Families in November 2021. He understood that students and families needed a trusted person to turn to for these very complaints.

Additional resources available to students and parents include:

• Director of Community Resolution and Compliance (Dr. Evelyn Medina)

• Assurance of Nondiscrimination Policy

• Title IX/Title VI/Section 504 and compliance resources

• WeTip Anonymous SDUHSD Reporting System

• Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP)

  
  

These resources do a pretty good job spelling out the process, timelines, and rights in plain, easy-to-understand English (and several other languages as well). It’s baffling why no one thought it might be a good idea to collect, organize, and queue them up (like we did here) - just in case.

When silence or a total lack of knowledge about protocols coincides with the district’s own admission of gross negligence in mishandling an antisemitic hate crime, parental trust in the district isn’t merely damaged - it’s lost.

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PARENT QUESTION 3:

"What should Jewish parents expect if (when?) something similar happens to our kids at Torrey?”

PEERK12 ANALYSIS

Good grief, where to begin...?!

Let's start by stating the obvious: this is no longer a hypothetical situation. Tossing a dismissive "don't worry, my team is adept at responding" at Jewish parents in the same email thread where you've just admitted the district mishandled the Human Swastika Incident at SDA is ...... (drumroll please): DEMONSTRABLY FALSE.

It's almost obscene to give vague assurances that the school “will work diligently” if something ever happens. Don’t forget: something DID happen, and the school did NOT work diligently to address it.

Next, district parents were just told (in the Superintendent's email) that the district protocol wasn't followed. Here they are reaching out to gain a better understanding of that protocol and for corresponding resources. Not only was their main concern never addressed, but they also were not supplied with any information about where to find the information.

The message is unmistakable: the principal is treating them on a “need-to-know” basis and acting as if they don’t need to know.

The correct response is to give parents concrete information on who the main point of contact would be for all complaints and incidents. This should include information on victim support, safety planning, academic accommodations, school-climate remedies, or removal of hateful content.

Parents also want to understand whether and when they will be notified during the process, what the communication cadence would be, and potentially how to appeal if the response they receive is inadequate (which is highly likely in this case).

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The Missing Piece on Accountability and Consequences

The principal really should have STARTED his response by reassuring parents that hate-motivated conduct against their Jewish children can-and-will trigger discipline and possible law-enforcement involvement. Unfortunately, he also missed the chance to explain that student-privacy laws bar the district from disclosing specific penalties. This would preempt inevitable future demands to reveal offenders’ punishments.

Transparency about consequences for unacceptable behaviors serves as a deterrent and signals to every student that the school treats hate seriously before it escalates.

At SDUHSD, this can be found in District Policy AR 5144.1 on 'Suspension and Expulsion/Due Process' and Board Policies 5145.3, 5145.9, 1312.3, which all provide details about the types of conduct and hate-motivated behaviors that are subject to discipline and enforcement.

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Bottom Line: This Isn’t a “Communication Style” Issue . . . This is a Systemic Compliance Failure

A principal who brushes off safety questions by waxing poetic about social clubs, empty slogans, and “I can’t talk about specific protocols” is a truly tone-deaf response to parents who are legitimately worried their child could be this district’s next antisemitic hate crime victim.

It's this "I can’t talk about a specific protocol" claim that is his most egregious because it is also completely false.

SDUHSD’s own Board Policies (BP 5145.3, BP 5145.9, BP 1312.3), administrative regulations (AR 5144.1), and the district’s robust UCP (complete with a full-time staffer) are publicly available. They are designed for exactly these situations.

However, as we can see, even the most well-written process is totally meaningless if the faculty leaders responsible for implementing it don’t follow it, won’t follow it, or can’t even explain it.

If principals can't articulate their district's clear, policy-aligned protocols for antisemitic hate crimes the day after a major announcement went out detailing how the district failed to follow its own protocols when an antisemitic hate crime occurred, then SDUHSD’s system is officially broken.

Jewish students - and all students - deserve more than platitudes and useless slogans claiming ‘hate has no place here’ when clearly it does.

Is that really too much to ask? In this case, the district’s answer appears to be yes.

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Additional Resources for Parents & Districts

A Cheatsheet for Parents: If Something Like This Happens to You...

• Document and Report Everything:

- Take voice notes of every detail of the incident. Record your child explaining what happened; transcribe using AI (include dates, time stamps, names of anyone you met with or spoke to about it).

- Go to your school district's main website and collect every email of every administrator listed.

- Send one email to all of them asking who the contact person is for submitting an antisemitic incident report.

- Submit a written report to site administration and the district’s UCP portal/contact.

- Keep copies of everything.

- Require district officials to conduct all communication with you ONLY IN WRITING (no phone calls).

- Ask for summaries of every meeting to be sent via email.

- Ask for confirmation of receipt to every complaint you file.

• Invoke Your Rights:

- Cite your district’s equivalent of San Dieguito Union High School’s BP 5145.3, BP 5145.9, and BP 1312.3 - to find your district equivalent. Simply search your school district’s website for board policies on anti-discrimination, hate crimes, bullying, civil rights protections/violations, and uniform complaint procedures (UCP).

- Ask for the timeline and your appeal rights to be sent to you in writing.

• Request Supports:

- Ask for counseling, academic accommodations, and safety planning.

- Request removal of any hateful content and appropriate school-climate education.

• Don't Wait - Escalate if Needed:

- If timelines aren’t met or remedies fall short, PeerK12 can help you escalate and/or appeal to your state's Department of Education or even the Federal Office of Civil Rights.

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A Cheatsheet for Districts: How to Respond in a Way That Evokes Safety and Builds Trust

• Acknowledge -- immediately and publicly -- and state this pernicious hate by name: Antisemitism, Jew-hatred, Anti-Jewish Racism, Anti-Zionism, Hatred of Jews.

- The discriminatory double standard practice of not publicly acknowledging Jew-hatred as a very specific type of hate crime has done tremendous damage over the years.

- It is time to lead by example - you need to say this - and say it loudly: HATING JEWS BECAUSE THEY'RE JEWS IS WRONG.

- Each time you shy away from immediately sending out a message to your community, you are causing harm by enabling these incidents to continue to grow and spread.

- The promise is "Never Again Is NOW," not: "never again is in about a month, after we try to deal with this quietly behind closed doors and hope no one finds out about it."

• Show how to take real accountability:

- Don't just say "hate-motivated behavior and conduct are not tolerated" - be specific and give examples - leave no doubt in anyone's mind.

- Discipline consistent with AR 5144.1 or equivalent, and Ed Code (including hate-violence where applicable).

- Reassure parents and students alike that staff are required to intervene immediately.

• Give parents clear information on how to report incidents:

- Specify who parents should contact at the school site (principal, associate principal, counselor assigned to your student, UCP coordinator, reporting hotline, etc.) as well as who the single point of contact for these issues would be for the entire district.

- Link to your district's policies on Title IX, Title VI, UCP, and Assurance of Nondiscrimination.

- Detail when and why coordination with law enforcement is required (and what to expect in that situation).

- Keep this information handy so you can quickly access it and send it anytime to anyone.

• Help parents understand what happens during and after the incident complaint process:

- Provide them with a direct line of communication with your UCP coordinator.

- Let them know what your cadence is for written confirmation from the UCP coordinator when complaint submissions are received.

- Give explanations of next steps and what parents can expect in terms of timelines (interviews, evidence collection, findings).

- Offer information on appealing an outcome should they find it unsatisfactory.

• Reassure parents that the district provides many supports and remedies:

- Counseling, check-ins, academic accommodations, safety planning, removal of hateful content, and school-climate education.

• AVOID referencing irrelevant school programs (that are CLEARLY not working):

- Each time you list these empty slogans, you alienate parents - especially when these programs ('no place for hate') aren’t even searchable on your website.

- Latching on to these during a misstep only draws more attention to the fact that you failed to implement whatever that program claims it can do for you. This also highlights irresponsible spending if the program has cost the district a lot of money when there is clearly nothing to show for the lost investment.

Last but not least: please STOP consulting your "anti-bias" trainers and START listening to the Jewish students and their parents in your community about what they want and need in order to feel seen and heard.