(JTA) — A Jewish eighth-grader in Colorado filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education over allegations of anti-Semitic harassment.
The department’s Office of Civil Rights reportedly is investigating charges that Isabella Grunspan has been subjected to harassment because she is Jewish, local news agencies reported.
Grunspan, a student at West Jefferson Middle School in Conifer, appeared before the local school board in January to report that she had been told she should be placed in an oven like Jews during the Holocaust. Grunspan’s family filed the complaint with federal authorities, alleging that the school had not taken appropriate action.
“I constantly deal with anti-Semitism and other students saying that Hitler was a genius,” Grunspan said, according to a report from the local Fox affiliate.
“I feel like I have no place to be safe besides my home,” she said. “I’m scared every day. I’m sad. I feel isolated.”
The Jefferson County Public Schools district said it had launched an investigation into the matter and disciplined several students, but citing privacy laws declined to elaborate further.
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