By Rachel Amaru, IJN Boulder Correspondent
The Anti-Defamation League was put on trial at the Aug. 11, 2026 Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Board Meeting.
A meeting that was ostensibly about addressing the insufficient attention of BVSD, and particularly Southern Hills Middle School, to acts of documented anti-Semitism of a student at that middle school for more than two years, turned into a forum for person after person explaining why ADL’s anti-bias programming did not belong in the school district.
Approximately half the open-comment speakers (in-person and virtual) used their time to explain that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, and to decry the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. Some called it racist; others condemned Israel for “genocide” and “apartheid.”
While the IHRA definition does not include mention of Israel or Zionism, its accompanying “manifestations” include “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”
One woman who said she was of South African descent said that the “apartheid of Israel was more violent than that of South Africa,” calling ADL a “grotesque evil” and an “ideology that subscribes Jewish lives as more precious.”
Superintendent Rob Anderson, on the other hand, forthrightly addressed the issue at hand.
He offered a public apology to BVSD families and students at the beginning of the meeting, and explicitly to the student and family named in the ADL complaint.
He acknowledged that the actions taken by BVSD were insufficient, and that he was ultimately responsible and accountable in ensuring such incidents do not occur again.
He also shared that he had been in mediation with ADL, and in meetings with Jewish community leaders.
Anderson said that there would be system wide changes to address anti-Semitism and hate, and a new page on the BVSD website (including a business card with a link to the site).
He also spoke about the need for increased training for administrators and educators, and the establishment of a new Title VI advisory council. Future serial offenders, he said, would be removed from school.
Jewish testimony
Young students were the first speakers at open comment, including two about to start 7th grade at Southern Hills.
One said that she was “angry, hurt, and even a little scared. I shouldn’t have to be afraid to wear a Jewish star, miss school for Jewish holidays, etc.” She ended her emotional two-minute speech by asking what the district planned to do to prevent further incidents like the ones in the complaint from occurring.
Another student said that she had written a letter to the superintendent — to which she never received a response — about what it means to “take action.” She advocated for ADL’s No Place For Hate program to be brought to her school. She planned on sending her letter to the board.
A Jewish parent shared that her child was repeatedly harassed by other students saying, “Free Palestine” and calling her child a “baby killer.”
The parent called it “identity-based harassment” and said that since Oct. 7, 2023, the date of the Hamas massacre in Israel, this kind of language has been a “rallying cry for hate.”
Multiple parents — Jewish and non-Jewish — asked the board
• to continue rely on ADL’s partnership;
• to comprehensively examine and revise reporting guidelines for anti-Semitism, including clear public reporting protocol and who is accountable; and
• to consider the importance of an independent monitor.
Many parents emphasized the need for significantly more training for staff so they learn to better recognize anti-Semitism and hate.
Another parent expressed that comments like those expressed at the meeting are what their kids are experiencing, and defined it as Jew-hatred.
Multiple parents shared their concern for the safety of their children, and expressed that their children did not feel safe being “visibly Jewish” in school.
Vituperative words on Israel, ADL
Lisa Kunkel, who started a petition against ADL’s anti-bias program being featured in BVSD schools said, “ADL is not a neutral organization.” Boulder Democratic Socialists of America promoted her petition on its Instagram.
Kunkel said she does not accept the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism utilized by ADL.
While she and others condemned anti-Semitism, they used much of their time to denounce Israel. ADL contributed to “US sponsored genocide, including Israel’s indiscriminate killing of thousands of children,” she stated.
Another parent called ADL “a compromised organization that denies the genocide of Palestinians.”
Another accused ADL of shutting down free speech and called the IHRA definition inaccurate and harmful, declaring that “Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Another speaker, who participates in the weekly Saturday anti-Israel demonstrations in Boulder — stated that “Islamophobia is much more of a problem than anti-Semitism” and that the Jewish minority was being prioritized. Another one of the anti-Israel demonstration regulars said the ADL has a “pro-Zionist anti-Palestinian world view.” A third regular called the ADL a “phoney anti-defamation organization” and a “lobbying group for the State of Israel.”
Aaron Stone, former Boulder City Council candidate who protested the Boulder Run For Their Lives walks, also spoke out against the ADL, wearing a red T-shirt with the words “Zionism is Fascism.”
Jewish communal response
In his public comments, Rabbi Fred Greene of Har HaShem returned the focus to the students being targeted and their sense of not feeling safe.
When asked about his sense of how the meeting went, Rabbi Greene said:
“I deeply appreciate the superintendent’s sincere effort to address anti-Semitism in our schools, because Jewish students in this district are experiencing real harm — feeling unsafe, unseen and vulnerable.
“And when they are seen, they are too often tagged with anti-Jewish hate.
“I found many of tonight’s characterizations of the ADL and Israel as pro-genocide to be unfair and misleading, and I’m concerned that rhetoric like that can obscure the actual crisis we’re trying to solve.
“There’s room for thoughtful debate about specific definitions like the IHRA framework, and those conversations should happen — but they shouldn’t distract from our urgent responsibility to protect students, many of whom are currently suffering.”
For Eldad Malka, regional director of the Israel-American Council (IAC), the anti-Israel open comment “served as a great example of how one can take a specific topic [anti-Semitic harassment of a Jewish student] and bring in a political agenda that is not related. It doesn’t matter what Israel is doing or not doing; what matters is that there is anti-Semitism in schools, and a Jewish community that is a minority in Boulder that is feeling threatened, not safe and not welcomed. That is what should be addressed.”
After the meeting, Bruce Shaffer, former co-lead of Boulder Run For Their Lives, said he wondered if “BVSD members anticipated the division they heard tonight, and the foreseeable targeting of ADL. They are elected public officials with a duty to consider all perspectives. They might have to get creative. I hope they get it right. It’s Jews who were consistently and violently targeted. Period.”
Another Jewish parent who spoke asked the Board to summon the necessary “moral clarity.”
Stefanie Clarke of Colorado Jewish Action Alliance offered the following summary of the Aug. 11 meeting:
“We were encouraged to hear Superintendent Anderson acknowledge BVSD’s failures in addressing anti-Semitism and propose concrete steps to address it.
“But the public comment that followed showed just how toxic this discourse has become. The conversation shifted away from the experiences of Jewish students and turned into attacks on the ADL, Israel and Zionism.
“For many in the Boulder Jewish community, that hostility underscores why so many Jewish students and families are afraid to speak up. This behavior has been allowed to fester for too long.
“The district now has an obligation to act. The focus must be on protecting Jewish students — not discrediting the people and organizations who brought these failures to light.”
For the ADL, the meeting and the testimony of the Jewish students “reinforces why this issue and our Title VI complaint are so important,” wrote regional director Susan Rona on X.
“BVSD must keep student safety and their experiences with antisemitism front and center and take meaningful action to protect these students, the student named in the complaint and all Jewish students. We appreciate that Superintendent Dr. Rob Anderson recognizes the need for change and look forward to continuing the work to reach a mediated settlement agreement that implements critical reforms and systemic changes for students at BVSD.”