Updated Dec. 18
Oakland Unified School District discriminated against Jewish students in three additional incidents since Oct. 7, 2023, the California Department of Education has determined.
The CDE’s Dec. 3 report on the three incidents follows similar findings earlier this fall in three other cases. In October, the CDE determined that Middle East maps, which excluded Israel and were shared repeatedly by OUSD as educational material, were discriminatory. Four days later, the CDE likewise determined that OUSD discriminated against Jewish students when a school flew a Palestinian flag on its flagpole weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, and again when teachers held an unauthorized “teach-in” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict near the start of the war, using materials unvetted by the district.
The latest report centers on an English teacher who displayed anti-Israel posters outside his classroom; a student walkout that was aided by a middle school staffer; and a student newspaper that published a news article criticizing Israel and rationalizing the Oct. 7 attack “with no counterpoint.”
Montera Middle School
Starting in the fall 2023, an English teacher at Montera Middle School began displaying anti-Israel posters outside his classroom. One read “End genocide now” and another read “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” according to photos published in the Telegraph, the school’s student newspaper.
The district spoke with students and teachers who were shocked by the posters and had tried to express their concerns to the teacher, Arvind Reddy, but he refused to engage, J. reported in January.
Marleen Sacks, an attorney representing the Oakland Jewish Alliance, a local grassroots advocacy group, filed a complaint with the district through the state’s Uniform Complaint Procedures. She alleged the teacher “gave out assignments that were designed to indoctrinate students into anti-Israel beliefs.”
In its initial investigation, the school district concluded that the posters, which it called “antisemitic materials,” created a “divisive and unwelcoming environment, particularly for Jewish students and school community members.” The behavior violated district policy on presenting “controversial issues” in a balanced manner, the district said.
Still, the district did not conclude that the behavior was discriminatory.
In the CDE’s new report, the state took issue with that omission.
“The evidence is consistent with a legal conclusion that the District contributed to a discriminatory environment for Jewish students and staff,” the CDE report said.
Reddy is no longer listed as a staff member at Montera Middle School.
Westlake Middle School
In late February 2024, students in Westlake Middle School’s Black Student Union participated in a walkout, protesting the district’s cancellation of a teach-in by the group Bay Area Labor for Palestine.
Sacks filed a complaint with the district the day after the walkout. Sacks alleged that Timothy Killings, Westlake’s community schools manager and the Black Student Union’s faculty adviser, used his position as a school employee to “manipulate and indoctrinate students into anti-Israel or antisemitic beliefs.’”
On the day of the walkout, Killings, who accompanied the students, told Oaklandside that his students came up with the idea for the demonstration.
While Killings “did not lead the student walkout,” the CDE wrote, “he participated in the student-led walkout in support of the students protesting in support of Palestine.”
The district had concluded that Killings violated both the district’s policy on teaching controversial issues and a district directive sent out to parents of Westlake students a day before the walkout. The message, quoted in the district’s investigation report, stated that staff was prohibited from “taking students off campus unless approved following the District’s formal protocol.”
The CDE determined that while the district did not weigh in on whether Killings’ behavior constituted antisemitic discrimination, the evidence indicated that it did so.
Oakland schools implicitly “concluded that the conduct did not constitute discrimination based on antisemitism,” the CDE report said. “The CDE finds that this implied conclusion is not supported by material findings of fact, supported by substantial evidence, for the reasons mentioned above and thus, is inconsistent with the law.”
Killings remains on staff, according to the school’s directory. He did not immediately respond to J.’s request for comment.
Oakland Technical High School
In November 2023, The Scribe, Oakland Technical High School’s student newspaper, published an article titled “Israel’s Violations of International Law: A closer look at apartheid, settlements, and ongoing humanitarian concerns.”
Sacks filed a complaint with OUSD in February 2024, arguing the article was a “one-sided, unsourced hit piece on Israel.”
After a yearlong investigation into the complaint, the district agreed with Sacks’ characterization. One example that investigators quoted from the article claimed that “Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 invasion was ‘retaliation to oppression in Gaza.’”
A week after Sacks filed her complaint with the district, the article was apparently removed from The Scribe’s website. Neither the district nor the school principal responded to J.’s request for information about when or why the article was taken down.
District investigators also found that The Scribe’s faculty sponsor did not review the article prior to its publication. As a result, the district instructed the high school to revise The Scribe’s publication protocol and to impose more controls on its website.
The district also acknowledged the article could make Jewish students feel “alienated and unwelcome,” but the CDE concluded that characterization did not sufficiently address the core of Sacks’ complaint: that the publication of the article unlawfully discriminated against Jewish students.
“Publishing the article as a news article with no counterpoint article would reasonably be perceived as antisemitic and discriminatory towards certain students with protected characteristics,” the CDE stated.
Bret Harte Middle School
In one case, the CDE agreed with the district’s determination that no corrective action was necessary.
The case revolved around a Bret Harte Middle School staff member who published scathing posts on social media attacking Israel and Jews.
In December 2023, social media posts surfaced that were linked to Nida Khalil, then a community schools manager at Harte. In the posts, Khalil (who also used the name Nida Liftawiya online) described Zionists as “monsters” and “heartless human beings,” J. reported at the time.
Upon discovering the posts, OUSD parents together with Sacks filed a complaint with the district calling for an investigation into the employee.
In its investigation report released in February 2025, the district concluded that Khalil did not violate its policies because she published the posts using personal accounts under a different name and did not identify herself as a district employee.
The CDE concurred with the district finding that Khalil’s behavior did not constitute antisemitic discrimination, pointing to the fact that the statements were made outside of work.
Citing the district’s initial report, the CDE found, in agreement, that “the Community Schools Manager made comments in personal social media posts that were offensive and derogatory, demonstrated a lack of discretion, and made others concerned about Community Schools Manager’s ability to work with students and treat them impartially.”
The CDE report added that the “Community Schools Manager made these comments outside of the context of her employment at the District, the comments were not made in the context of a school activity, and the employee did not identify herself as an employee of the District and did not use her real name.”
Sacks has filed a request for reconsideration of the CDE decision, arguing the investigators did not apply the correct legal analysis.
Khalil is no longer listed as part of Bret Harte’s leadership team or community schools program on the school’s website.
OUSD’s response
OUSD spokesperson John Sasaki confirmed the district plans to comply with all training requirements the CDE has mandated.
As corrective measures, the CDE is requiring teachers and administrators at Westlake and Montera middle schools and the faculty adviser of Oakland Technical High School’s student paper to undergo anti-discrimination training focused on “ensuring that the District does not show discrimination or bias towards persons with protected characteristics, with a particular emphasis on antisemitism.” The district must complete the training by Jan. 16.
“We are committed to upholding our values to ensure that all of our students feel safe, feel they belong, and can engage in the outstanding learning and enrichment experiences offered by our schools,” Sasaki said in a Dec. 9 email to J.
Sacks and the Oakland Jewish Alliance are also suing the Oakland Unified School District in Alameda County Superior Court, alleging that the district has repeatedly violated the civil rights of Israeli and American Jewish families. In his email to J., Sasaki said the district does not comment on pending litigation.