Non-Discrimination Statement & Policy

Non-Discrimination Statement

The Nysmith School has entered into an agreement with the approval of the Office of the Attorney General.

The Nysmith School regrets its decision to expel the children of the family that initiated the claims.

The Nysmith School wants to improve its own policies and procedures, to ensure that all protected groups are treated fairly, including Jewish students, and to spare all of the minor children formerly or currently enrolled in the Nysmith School of the further necessity of protracted proceedings and litigation.

The Nysmith School will implement a series of structural changes that will strengthen the foundation of our school and help us protect against anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. The Nysmith School has agreed to incorporate within its nondiscrimination policies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (“IHRA”) working definition of anti-Semitism including its contemporary examples to ensure an educational environment free of Discrimination.

Discrimination or harassment of any type is unacceptable, and the Nysmith School must be a safe and welcoming environment for all students. Acts or expressions of discrimination in any form undermine the educational process and are in direct opposition to our core values. Stigmatizing Jewish students or making them feel unsafe or unwelcome based on their religious identity or expressing their Jewish identity, is contrary to our School’s fundamental values of mutual respect and inclusion. It is never acceptable to harass, intimidate, marginalize or ostracize any member of the Nysmith community on the basis of their identity. The Nysmith School will safeguard the rights of students to access educational opportunities free of harassment and discrimination.

The Nysmith School will provide mandatory training for its administration and staff, which will use the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism including its examples to raise awareness of the various forms of anti-Semitism that can manifest in a school setting and in society at large. The Nysmith School also will provide age-appropriate student education on antiSemitism and continue its longstanding tradition of providing an annual Holocaust program for students studying World War II.

We encourage any student, and their families, who believes a student has been subjected to harassment or a hostile environment based on religion, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and actual or perceived shared ancestry including anti-Semitism, or any other protected characteristic under Virginia law, to report it to the newly established committee within the Nysmith School, which has been tasked with evaluating, investigating and determining an appropriate disposition of complaints of discrimination. The School, and its newly created committee, is committed to conducting a prompt, thorough and fair investigation, and reaching an appropriate resolution consistent with our nondiscrimination policies.

The Nysmith School also has agreed to engage an independent monitor for a five-year period. The monitor will review the committee’s investigation and disposition of each complaint of discrimination to ensure conformance with be the Nysmith School’s nondiscrimination policies and procedures and applicable Virginia law.

Students or staff found to have engaged in acts of discrimination or harassment based on religion, race, national origin, ethnicity or actual or perceived shared ancestry, or any other protected characteristic, will face discipline, including, if circumstances warrant, suspension and expulsion (for students) and termination (for employees).

Non-Discrimination Policies and Procedures

1. The Nysmith School is committed to ensuring a school environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, disability, and actual or perceived shared ancestry. The Nysmith School’s school-wide non-discrimination policies and procedures prohibits discrimination and harassment in all academic, extra-curricular and school-sponsored activities.
2. The Nysmith School’s nondiscrimination policies and procedures includes a prohibition on anti-semitism based on actual or perceived national or ethnic origin or shared ancestry.
3. Consistent with Chapter 471 of the Acts of Assembly and Executive Order 48 (May 19, 2025), the Nysmith School has adopted as part of these nondiscrimination policies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (“IHRA”) definition of anti-Semitism including its contemporary examples, https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism. When applying the nondiscrimination policy to evaluate complaints of anti-Semitism, the Nysmith School shall consider the IHRA Definition of anti-Semitism including its contemporary examples to the extent that they are useful as evidence of discriminatory intent, without diminishing or infringing any right protected under the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Conduct that falls within the IHRA definition including its examples will, provided the required elements under the policy are met, constitute prohibited harassment or discrimination in violation of Nysmith’s nondiscrimination policy.
4. The Nysmith School will investigate all reports of discrimination and harassment, and the Nysmith School’s nondiscrimination policies will be enforced equally, applying a single standard for all students. The Nysmith School will take appropriate remedial action to eliminate discriminatory conduct, to prevent its recurrence, and to address its effects on the any other affected individuals.
5. Students and their families are encouraged to immediately report incidents of discrimination and harassment. The Nysmith School, its administration, staff and students will not take any action to punish or intimidate students or families who report discrimination and harassment in good faith, or who participate in an investigation or related proceedings, and will take prompt and effective action to stop any form of retaliation that occurs as a result of a report of discriminatory conduct.
6. Staff members are required to promptly report all incidents of discrimination and harassment of which they become aware, regardless of whether a formal report and/or complaint has been submitted.
7. A working committee has been formed and is charged with the authority and responsibility for evaluating and investigating all reports or complaints of suspected or alleged discrimination or harassment, and for determining the disposition of such complaints or reports as warranted under these nondiscrimination policies and procedures and applicable law. The working committee shall be comprised of three members, at least one of whom is a parent of a Nysmith student, who is not employed by or receiving any form of compensation or benefits from the School. The names and contact information of the working committee members are available to all members of the Nysmith community on the School’s website.
8. Complaints of discrimination may be submitted to the Nysmith School or directly to the members of the working committee, and may be made in writing, by email, by telephone or videoconference, in an in-person meeting or in any other way. The working committee shall inform the Nysmith School of all such reports. Complaints of discrimination based on a protected characteristic will be expeditiously evaluated and investigated. Upon the submission of a complaint, the person who has submitted the complaint shall be advised of the availability of interim measures, including separation of students, safety plans and accommodations.
9. The Nysmith School has engaged Crystal L. Tyler, an independent monitor who will review the working committee’s investigation and disposition of each complaint of discrimination to ensure the evaluation, investigation and disposition meet the requirements of the School’s nondiscrimination policies and procedures, and applicable law. Following the monitor’s review of each complaint and the response thereto, the monitor will provide the School with a written assessment of whether the working committee’s review, investigation and disposition of the complaint conformed to the School’s nondiscrimination policies and procedures and applicable law. Based on the monitor’s assessment, the School may suspend the working committee’s disposition, and direct the working committee to take further action on its review and disposition of the complaint. The family and/or student who submitted the complaint of discrimination may request from the monitor a copy of the monitor’s written assessment, which will be provided at the later of: (i) five business days from the date of the family and/or student’s request, and (ii) one week from final disposition of the complaint.