Jewish Family Sues Elite Virginia School Over Expulsions After Antisemitism Complaints

A prestigious private school in Northern Virginia is facing a lawsuit for expelling three Jewish students after their parents raised concerns about severe antisemitic bullying on campus.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, along with Dillon PLLC, filed a legal complaint on Tuesday against the Nysmith School for the Gifted, located near Washington, DC. The lawsuit claims the expulsions violate the Virginia Human Rights Act.

The school, considered one of the top elementary institutions in the country, charges over $46,000 in annual tuition. It is unknown how many of the roughly 500 students are Jewish.

According to the filing, the 11-year-old daughter of Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy was subjected to repeated taunts for being “Israeli.” Bullies allegedly called Jews “baby killers,” said they should die because of the war in Gaza, and mocked the death of her uncle, falsely claiming he died on October 7, though he had passed away years earlier.

“The bullies told their daughter that everyone at the school is against Jews and Israel, which is why they hate you,” the Brandeis Center said in a statement. “The other children also taunted her about the death of her uncle, saying that they were glad he died in the October 7th attack, even though he had died years earlier.”

Despite repeated attempts by The Times of Israel to get a response from Nysmith, the school has remained silent. In a letter to US media outlets, the headmaster claimed that online reports are “not complete” and said he was unaware of any legal proceedings.

The complaint further details that in October 2024, students in the girl’s sixth-grade history class created a large image of Adolf Hitler as part of a project depicting “strong historical leaders.” While the parents were disturbed, they chose not to complain at the time, believing it might have been a one-time lapse in judgment.

In February 2025, a mother of another student alerted Vazquez to what she described as a troubling pattern of bullying. When he spoke to his daughter, she reportedly broke down in tears.

The complaint describes how classmates placed pro-Palestinian stickers on school-issued devices and lockers, then used the stickers to mock the girl for being “Israeli.” In front of classmates, children called Jews “baby killers” and said they “deserve to die because of what is happening in Gaza.”

Vazquez brought the issue to the attention of the school’s founder and headmaster, Kenneth Nysmith, who allegedly promised to address it. But according to the lawsuit, no steps were taken. In the weeks that followed, the school canceled its annual Holocaust survivor lecture—allegedly to avoid raising tensions—and displayed a Palestinian flag in the gym. Meanwhile, the bullying reportedly intensified.

After the parents submitted a second complaint in March, the headmaster allegedly told them to advise their daughter to “toughen up.” Two days later, the family received an email notifying them that all three of their children, a second-grade son and two sixth-grade daughters, were being expelled, effective immediately.

In the email, Nysmith wrote, “The words used [in the meeting] make it clear that you have a profound lack of trust in both me and the school… I do not see a path forward without trust, understanding and cooperation. In our meeting, I felt very clearly that you do not think Nysmith is the right school for your family, and the longer we try to ignore that reality, the more pain it will cause your children.”

The lawsuit emphasizes that all three children had strong academic records and no behavioral issues.

“The actions of Nysmith School against these three young children are disgraceful,” said Brandeis Center chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Through its actions, the administration sent a clear message: bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families. In addition to action from legal authorities, it is high time for public moral outrage; the normalization of antisemitism must stop.”

The lawsuit demands that the school reimburse the family’s tuition costs and implement measures to address its “hostile environment,” including staff training on how to combat antisemitism.

The Brandeis Center has filed similar complaints over the past year against institutions including Harvard, Yale, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Scripps College, and the Fulton County School District in Georgia.