Virginia School Under Fire For Expelling Kids Who Objected To Antisemitic Bullying

Parents are fighting back after their three young three children were expelled from the Nysmith School for the Gifted after they raised concerns about antisemitic bullying and harassment — about which the headmaster and owner of the school, Kenneth R. Nysmith, allegedly did nothing.

Parents Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy filed a lawsuit with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights against the Nysmith School for the Gifted, Inc., and headmaster Kenneth Nysmith. In it, they alleged that their three children were expelled after they complained about antisemitic bullying and harassment targeting their 11-year-old daughter.

“The school had allowed anti-Semitism to take root in her class—in, for example, this picture of a social studies class project depicting the attributes of a ‘strong historical leader’ … That photo, featuring the unmistakable face of Adolf Hitler, was shared with the entire school community. It was followed by a pattern of persistent and severe anti-Semitic harassment of Complainants’ young daughter,” the lawsuit alleges.

A northern Virginia private school hung up a Palestinian flag in the school gym and taught the kids that H!tler was a “strong historical leader,” before expelling Jewish kids who complained. pic.twitter.com/sSGphCJTk1

— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) July 1, 2025

Vazquez and Roy stated that other students began bullying their daughter because she was Jewish shortly after Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, raping and torturing men, women, and children on October 7, 2023 — and that they’d informed Mr. Nysmith of the problem at the time.

The suit alleges that children at the school put “pro-Palestine stickers on school-issued laptops and lockers” and referred to Jews as “baby-killers” who “deserve to die because of what is happening in Gaza.”

“The bullies told their daughter that everyone at the school is against Jews and Israel, which is why they hate you,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint was submitted by the complaint Louis D. Brandeis Center.

Read more here:https://t.co/9qyzHBIAoG

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) July 1, 2025

“The bullies told their daughter that everyone at the school is against Jews and Israel, which is why they hate you,” the complaint reads.

JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free

“Mr. Nysmith promised to take action – but did nothing,” the suit alleges. “A few weeks later, after Mr. Nysmith decided to hang a Palestinian flag in the Nysmith School gym, the harassment of their daughter grew more severe. Complainants notified Mr. Nysmith that harassment of their daughter had become much worse and pleaded for his help. In response, Mr. Nysmith told them to tell their daughter to ‘toughen up’ and abruptly ended the meeting.”

It was just two days after that meeting that Vazquez and Roy say they were informed that all three of their children were being expelled from the school.

When the family raised concerns about this and other incidents, the school told them to “toughen up.”

Two days after that call, all three of their kids were expelled via email—right before mid-semester grades and after nearby schools’ application deadlines had passed. pic.twitter.com/Z9OGSLGcBj

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) July 1, 2025

In the letter terminating the students’ enrollment, the headmaster put the onus on the parents, claiming that he could not see a “path forward” due to the parents’ “profound lack of trust” in both him and the school.