Parents and community activists spent Thursday evening protesting a North County school board’s reaction to a picture of Hitler in one of its seventh-grade classrooms.
A 12-year-old student’s complaint about Adolph Hitler's picture displayed among other historical figures including Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy at Carmel Valley Middle School.
NBC 7 first reported the story in early October and spoke to the father of a student who said he told the teacher the picture on the board “trivializes the Holocaust.” The teacher responded, according to the father, by saying, "'Well, Hitler may have done some bad things, but he also had strong leadership qualities.’"
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The San Dieguito Union High School District said it would organize a listening session, offer anti-bias training for staff and review its curriculum in response to blowback over the photo.
At Thursday's district meeting, demonstrators told the district their action didn't meet their expectations.
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"Hitler was not a man with redeeming qualities," Ori Zener said. 'He killed not only 6 million Jews, but 13 million Europeans. The district needs to discipline the perpetrators of what happened here."
"I am strongly opposed to the display of any Nazi-related material including photos of Hitler, swastikas and any other Nazi propaganda in our classroom or on our school sites. Zero tolerance," San Dieguito board member Julie Bronstein told parents.
Some speakers cast doubt on the board’s sincerity, pointing out the “Safe School Culture” item was placed near the end of the agenda.
Board members did commit to a superintendent’s ad hoc committee. It is effectively a task force that will investigate district policies and procedures concerning marginalized cultural groups.
"We want transparency in the curriculum," parent Gabrielle Hazan said. "There is no place for hate."
