Nazi armband at East Cobb Middle School sparks more criticism of school district

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Feb. 22—A student’s wearing of a Nazi armband at East Cobb Middle School last week has reignited concerns about anti-Semitism in the Cobb County School District, with board members split on the issue.

Photos circulating on social media show a student wearing what appears to be a swastika armband made of paper and performing a Nazi salute. The photos were distributed on Snapchat.

“Several students, after school, made a very poor decision to display hateful and antisemitic imagery while recording themselves on social media,” district spokesperson Nan Kiel said in a statement. “The students will be disciplined according to district policies, and we encourage parents to talk to their students about using social media responsibly.”

Cobb school board member Dr. Jaha Howard, who is campaigning to become Georgia’s next superintendent of schools, took to Facebook to speak out about the district’s handling of such incidents. In a video posted Friday, Howard said the school district has engaged in a pattern of sweeping controversy under the rug to protect its reputation, and tries to silence board members such as himself. Howard also criticized the district’s decision last year to remove No Place For Hate, an anti-bias program sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, from schools.

“I want people to know that we have a board majority that purposely does not hold our superintendent (Chris Ragsdale) accountable for the fact that programming like No Place For Hate was removed from our schools,” Howard said, referencing the four Republicans who control the seven-member school board.

Howard, one of the board’s three Democrats, connected the anti-Semitic incidents to the board’s ban on critical race theory, as well as efforts by the state legislature to restrict curriculum. Such actions are causing a chilling effect for educators who are scared to teach about controversial topics, Howard said.

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Ongoing issue

The district saw protests last year after antisemitic graffiti was found in bathrooms at Pope and Lassiter high schools and at Simpson Middle School.

Following those incidents, initial statements from the district referred to vandalism but not anti-Semitism specifically, angering members of Cobb’s Jewish community. The board later passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

Board Chair David Chastain, a Republican, said in an interview that the district cannot prevent all instances of anti-Semitism from occurring.

“We can say that we’re against it and we don’t like it, but it’s kind of like speeding tickets,” Chastain said. “There’s all these ordinances out there, and every now and then somebody decides to go ahead and push the limit, and they get caught. So, you know, I feel bad when anything like this happens.”

Republican board member Randy Scamihorn said it’s up to Ragsdale and other district staff, not the board, to address the matter as they see fit.

“Isn’t it odd or curious that the board member that continues to blow his own horn never offers tangible and realistic solutions to what he complains about?” Scamihorn said of Howard. (Scamihorn emphasized he was speaking for himself and not the board, as did Howard in the video.)

Howard said in the video that “perhaps there’s some substitute” for the No Place For Hate program, adding, “From what I understand things are in the works, things are happening.”

For Chastain, any policy changes or new programs are the business of staff.

“The superintendent and his staff can decide certain things that they feel are appropriate and things that are not appropriate, but the board does not micromanage the superintendent,” Chastain said.

Scamihorn, who served as board chair last year, told the MDJ in December that No Place For Hate was removed by staff “to keep politics and indoctrination out of our school.” He reiterated that stance Monday, saying the program evolved over the years and came to include content district staff deemed inappropriate.

‘Highly deficient’

Larry Sernovitz, senior rabbi of Temple Kol Emeth in east Cobb, takes a different view. The removal of No Place For Hate was Ragsdale’s attempt to impose a one-sided view of history, Sernovitz said.

“Cobb County Schools is highly deficient in being able to not just teach the facts of history, but why they matter to our students,” Sernovitz said in an interview.

Sernovitz, however, has been working with students accused of antisemitic acts to teach them why their conduct was wrong.

The rabbi also said he’s been working with district staff to take a look at the curriculum and suggest changes to better educate students about anti-Semitism.

“When we look in the eyes of somebody who doesn’t look like us, doesn’t practice the same faith, doesn’t have the same background, we need to see the eyes of God as well, just like we would want seen in us,” Sernovitz said.

Sernovitz called for more forceful action from Ragsdale to address the anti-Semitism problem.

“I would honestly call on the superintendent to stand up and to say, ‘Enough is enough, and I’m not going to allow this stuff in my school district, and we’re going to make the changes necessary,'” Sernovitz said . “I doubt that he will have the courage to be able to do so.”

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