Following community backlash to debate about the equity policy last month, Lower Merion’s school board plans to pursue antisemitism training and evaluate the effectiveness of local equity work, writes Maddie Hanna for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
At a recent board meeting, president Kerry Sautner assured community members their comments in the wake of the discussion she previously described as containing “antisemitic statements and racist implications” were heard.
The discussion on September 6 was focused on the equity policy and some minor revisions to comply with new federal law when the subject shifted to which students were protected by the policy.
Board member Abigail Lerner Rubin said the policy language specifying “historically marginalized” groups was exclusionary to Jewish students.
But some board members pushed back noted that the district needed to acknowledge systemic racism.
Board member Kimberly Garrison disagreed with Rubin’s perspective and cited statistics indicating the majority of American Jews identify as white.
Rubin accused Garrison of making antisemitic remarks and some community members asked for her dismissal or resignation.
Garrison, who has been harassed online since, stood by her remarks, noting that she “had made objective comments about the demographic population of the United States.”
Read more about the issue in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
