A family is suing the Alcuin School in Preston Hollow, alleging that the school failed to adequately address alleged antisemitic behavior on campus — accusations that the school denies.
Alcuin School is an independent school serving students from 18 months to 12th grade located in the 6100 block of Churchill Way. It was named the tenth best private high school in Texas in 2026 by Niche.
In the lawsuit, which was filed March 27 in Dallas County District Court, a father, identified in the lawsuit only as John Doe, alleges that Alcuin failed to protect Jewish students and parents from discrimination, and specifically that the school didn’t adequately respond to the bullying of his daughter following a presentation of an opinion piece about the Israel-Iran war and how it impacted her family.
The lawsuit seeks more than $10 million in damages, according to court documents.
“The fact that her family was under bombardment was met with laughter from students who had previously denied and bullied Plaintiff’s daughter about her support of Israel,” the lawsuit states. “Alcuin’s teacher did nothing to condemn the bullying of Plaintiff’s daughter and the shamelessness of laughing at her family’s attack.”
Alcuin, in a statement issued through its attorney Tony Campiti, said the child’s teacher assured the student that the class would be reminded not to make “snide comments.”
“The teacher responded with compassion, stating he was sorry she felt uncomfortable but explained he did not notice any laughter (but that did not mean it did not occur). He also assured her that he would remind the class of expectations with no side comments, no laughter, and full attention for every presenter,” Campiti said.
Attorney Larry Friedman, who represents the family in the case, says the lawsuit highlights an important issue in the educational system.
“Hatred, bias, prejudice, and anti-Semitism are learned behaviors. Our educational system shapes our young people’s attitudes for the future. Recognizing that these are not innate traits suggests that there is a responsibility in our schools to alter perceptions through proactive measures,” Friedman said. “The lawsuit highlights the critical role of educational institutions in either perpetuating or combating discrimination. Allowing hatred, bias, prejudice, and anti-Semitism to be taught in school, directly or indirectly, can have long-term repercussions on the fabric of society.”
The lawsuit also references several alleged examples of insensitivity toward Jewish students, going back to the fall of 2023 and the start of the Israel-Hamas war — allegations that the school refutes and says it will defend against in court.
“An initial review on our part indicates that the lawsuit mischaracterizes numerous events over an extended period of time — specifically antisemitic incidents — some of which we believe have no basis in fact or did not occur as stated,” Campiti said in a statement. “We take our obligations and our response to these allegations very seriously. We will vigorously defend Alcuin in this matter before the court and appreciate the patience and understanding of our students, families, faculty, and staff during this process.”
One of the lawsuit’s first examples, which date back to November of 2023, alleges that Alcuin staff took down posters placed near the school that depicted hostages taken by Hamas.
“Thereafter, without having received any written acknowledgement from Alcuin of the actions of its faculty and administrators, several parents reached out to Alcuin officials to notify them that Alcuin’s staff’s actions were contradictory to Alcuin’s alleged ‘melting pot’ of beliefs and lifestyles where all families should feel safe, respected, and accepted. In response, Alcuin, in writing, attempted to justify, explain, and otherwise excuse the abhorrent decisions made by Alcuin’s administration,” the lawsuit states.
Alcuin, in the statement issued by Campiti, said staff members were directed to remove the posters out of concern that some students might be frightened by their use of the word “kidnapped” and that leadership quickly investigated and took action after learning what happened.
Steps Campiti says Alcuin took after the incident include training regarding how to better understand and support the school’s Jewish students, placing the staff members believed to be responsible for it on administrative leave pending the investigation, and meetings between Alcuin’s head of school and board chair and two rabbis in the neighborhood to apologize.
“Alcuin later notified the school community that the employees on leave had separated from the school. Although the Plaintiff complained that other faculty members involved remained employed and even threatened to have some of them fired, Alcuin believed its remedial action was reasonable and proportional,” Campiti said.
In the spring of 2024, the lawsuit alleges a parent attending the school’s International Festival wearing a shirt that said “Bring them home,” referring to the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, was asked to remove the shirt or leave, as it was “making people uncomfortable.”
Campiti said in his statement that the action was taken “not based on religion or identity, but rather conduct.”
Then, in 2025, the lawsuit alleges at least one student from Alcuin’s sideline during a soccer game was overheard by parents from Akiba Yavneh Academy, a co-educational college-preparatory school for Jewish students from 3 months to 12th grade, telling Akiba Yavneh athletes to “remember October 7th,” and that students from Akiba Yavneh reported Alcuin students used antisemitic slurs directed at Jewish players on the field.
“To Jewish students and parents, including, but not limited to, Plaintiff, and to students and parents at Yavneh Academy, Alcuin’s student’s actions were violations of Alcuin’s stated “core values,” “school philosophy,” and representations made by Alcuin in public, on its website and in its Handbook, and should have resulted in disciplinary action,” the lawsuit alleges.
People Newspapers has reached out to Akiba Yavneh Academy for comment. We’ll update this story as more infomation becomes available.
Alcuin refutes those allegations, too.
“The Alcuin Upper School soccer team played Yavneh Academy on September 4, 2025 and September 29, 2025. Neither of Alcuin’s site administrators at the games observed or received any reports of comments such as “Remember October 7th” or other antisemitic slurs by anyone associated with the school at either game. Accordingly, after the lawsuit was filed, Alcuin representatives spoke to Yavneh Academy representatives to confirm that no such behavior took place during the games mentioned above. According to the Yavneh Academy representatives, they did not recall any such behavior from Alcuin during these games, either,” Campiti said in a statement. “Alcuin’s remedial actions prove that it does not and would not tolerate hate speech by students or statements that are threatening in nature and contrary to the values it holds as a community.”
Also in September 2025, the lawsuit alleges a teacher compared American Christians to Nazis and stated that the U.S. is “moving towards Nazi Germany.”
“(C)omparing America to Nazi Germany and American Christians to Nazis trivializes the Holocaust and led to confusion, fear, and isolation for the students that were forced to listen to such an unhinged rant and who disagreed with it,” the lawsuit alleges.
Alcuin, through Campiti, said the school doesn’t believe the statements amounted to antisemitic harassment, but “does believe they were not sufficiently contextualized from an academic standpoint and thus created discomfort and confusion in the classroom.”
“As a part of ongoing professional development, the school is coaching the teacher about the need for heightened care when leading classroom discussions about politically or historically charged comparisons that may carry deep identity-based feelings and significance for students,” Campiti added.
Alcuin’s representation states its senior leadership received training regarding antisemitism in February of 2026 and training regarding Islamophobia in March.
The lawsuit, though, argues that Alcuin’s investigations and other measures taken don’t go far enough.
“Alcuin allegedly investigated; however, Alcuin never produced any report, notes, or even a list of suspects. Nobody was held responsible,” the lawsuit states.
Claudia Carson-Habeeb contributed to this report.
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