U.S. Department of Education investigates Commack, Bellmore-Merrick Central High School districts

The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into two Long Island school districts for possible discrimination involving "shared ancestry," which would be violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the agency confirmed Wednesday.

The districts under investigation are Commack and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School system, according to information from the department's Office for Civil Rights.

In the Commack district, the investigation involved a complaint about antisemitic and anti-Black graffiti at a school. Information about what prompted the Bellmore-Merrick investigation was not immediately available.

The two Island school districts are on a list of more than 150 elementary, secondary and postsecondary institutions nationwide "that are currently under investigation for discrimination involving shared ancestry," according to the Office for Civil Rights.

The office, on its website, said, "Inclusion on the list does not mean that OCR has made a decision about the case."

The department described the reasons behind the creation of that list last November. It cited the Biden administration's "continued efforts to take aggressive action to address the alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment on college campuses and in K-12 schools since the Oct. 7 Israel-Hamas conflict."

The Commack investigation was launched June 17 and Bellmore-Merrick's on Monday. The Bellmore-Merrick district had no knowledge of any complaint, a spokeswoman said.

Agency details complaint

In the Commack case, the Education Department website included the complaint the department had received, and its letter to the district spelling out the complaint it was investigating and the procedures to follow.

A department spokesperson, after supplying links to the agency's list of institutions under investigation, as well as its "library page" that included the Commack district complaint, said: "The Department does not comment further on pending investigations."

The Commack complaint, made to the Education Department on March 12, citied "anti-Semitic and anti-Black graffiti" in a bathroom at Commack High School.

"This reprehensible act of hate speech and discrimination has understandably caused significant distress and concern among students, parents, and staff members," said the letter writer, whose identity was redacted by the department.

The letter continued: "While I appreciate that a police investigation is underway to identify the perpetrators, I am concerned by the lack of proactive measures being taken by the school administration to address the underlying issues and ensure that appropriate actions are taken moving forward." 

The writer also alleged there had been "no mention of conducting educational sessions, or dialogues" with students, or an outline of steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Education Department wrote a letter to Commack Superintendent Jordan Cox on June 17, informing the district that a complaint had been lodged and an investigation opened. The letter noted the graffiti was found in a "boy's bathroom" in November 2023. The graffiti incident was widely reported at the time.

The department said the district had 20 days to respond.

School officials respond

Commack school officials responded in a statement Wednesday to Newsday:

"The Commack School District is aware of the investigation by the U.S. Department of Education regarding the alleged Title VI violation. We promptly responded to the Office for Civil Rights' initial correspondence, providing them with a comprehensive summary of the incident and the district’s subsequent actions.

"The complaint, originally filed in March 2024, concerns an incident in which graffiti was discovered in a bathroom at Commack High School in early November 2023. Since providing the requested information, we have not heard back from OCR. We are fully cooperating with the investigation and will continue to do so."

Commack officials added that the high school has "many programs and initiatives that have been ongoing as we recognize the importance of teaching tolerance, respect, kindness and empathy in our community."

The school officials said they have partnered with the Shoah Foundation, the Holocaust Museum and Suffolk Y JCC to enable students to hear from Holocaust survivors. It added the district's students were the "driving force behind our districtwide multicultural commitment and its mission to promote inclusivity."

The district also forwarded a letter that Cox, the superintendent, had sent to school district families after two swastikas were found in the bathroom stalls last year. The letter does not mention any anti-Black graffiti. The district in November 2023 told Newsday that the anti-Black graffiti had been discovered after the letter was sent. 

"In response to the November 2023 incident, we felt additional measures were necessary. We partnered with the Suffolk County Hate Crimes Unit to bring a presentation to the entire school, focusing on the dangers and consequences of engaging in hateful behavior. We also implemented a sign-in system for bathrooms to increase supervision," the district said in its statement to Newsday.

Rabbi Mendel Teldon, of Chabad of Mid-Suffolk in Commack, said Jewish people are generally accepted in that community.

"Life for Jewish people in Commack is beautiful," he said.

Still, he said, there are isolated anti-Jewish incidents in Commack, like anywhere, and society has to do a better job of teaching young people to fight bias.

With Bart Jones

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie