District task force recommends stricter discipline, clearer definitions on antisemitism, racism and hate speech

The Three Village Central School District's superintendent-led task force on antisemitism, racism and hate speech has broken into four subgroups and recommended changes to the district code of conduct, including stronger disciplinary consequences and clearer definitions of prohibited conduct.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Scanlon told the board the task force split into subgroups on antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and "othering." He said the antisemitism subgroup met and proposed raising discipline levels for certain incidents "to commensurate to what we would do for students in possession of weapons or drugs." "The other recommendation was to include language defining some of these terms because we do have definitions from the code of conduct. There is some clear language from nationally recognized organizations so that there is an awareness by our students, our parents, our staff," Scanlon said.

Scanlon gave meeting dates for the remaining subgroups and said the district is working with national organizations and community groups: the antisemitism work includes counsel from recognized organizations, officials said; the district has reached out to the NAACP for the racism subgroup and to local Imams regarding Islamophobia. The superintendent said about 97 community volunteers initially signed up and that 42 volunteers were selected for the subgroups; members who were not chosen may still join subgroup meetings.

Trustees said the work will be time-sensitive because code-of-conduct language may need to be in place for the upcoming school year alongside other policy changes. The board did not vote on code changes at the meeting; Scanlon said the work will continue and the administration expects to return with recommended policy language for review.