Etiwanda middle schooler beaten, harassed with antisemitic slurs, family alleges

In a federal civil rights complaint, a Riverside County family said their 12-year-old faced antisemitic bullying after she was allegedly beaten and choked by another student.

The Brandeis Center, which is representing the family, wrote in its complaint that the Etiwanda School District failed to stem harassment following the attack, which included students hurling slurs, performing Nazi salutes in the hallway and praising Adolf Hitler.

"The student is very brave," attorney Marci Miller, who is part of the legal team that's representing the family. "She learned, and their family learned a lesson early on: that reporting this type of behavior doesn't necessarily go anywhere with a school district like this. Or it could take quite a while for anything to be accomplished."

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights said it opened an investigation into the district on Aug. 31, 2026. 

In a statement, Superintendent Laura Rowland wrote that the Etiwanda School District condemns antisemitism and takes its "duty and obligation to provide all our students with a safe and welcoming learning environment very seriously."

"Anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and targeting of Jewish students because of their Jewish ancestral and ethnic identity is contrary to Etiwanda's institutional values and nondiscrimination and conduct codes and is unacceptable," Rowland wrote.

The alleged attack that started the brunt of the harassment happened in September 2024 during an after-school care program at Etiwanda Intermediate School, according to the complaint. The family said that their daughter was carrying a praying mantis in her hands when another student started hitting her with a stick. 

School staff intervened, telling the student to stop hitting her with a stick and then walking away, according to the Brandeis Center. The attorneys claimed the altercation restarted after the student said an antisemitic phrase and "resumed hostility" before their client's daughter lightly kicked her.

The student then pinned the girl to the table and choked her for several seconds, according to the Brandeis Center.

"Absolutely horrified and heartbroken for the student and for the parents," said Miller. "The social isolation that was involved in all of it for a middle school student was really devastating to hear about."  

Miller said the student faced more harassment a month after the attack, including comments about her missing school to observe a Jewish holiday and another student pressuring her to listen to his Hitler joke. 

The Brandeis Center said the 12-year-old's middle school experience worsened after filing the complaint with the Office of Civil Rights in March 2025. Miller said the girl faced "Nazi salutes in the hallways, swastikas drawn on school property and textbooks on her desk."

"Students reported believing that this wasn't serious or anything that they should be reporting because it had become so commonplace at the school," she said. 

Rowland, who became superintendent in the summer of 2026, wrote that the school district will take "all necessary actions, including discipline" in certain cases to stem antisemitism on campus. 

"We have instituted policies to thoroughly investigate all claims of hostile acts and take appropriate action," she said. "We uphold these practices to maintain the core values of civility and dignity for everyone on every campus."

Miller said the district has made some meaningful changes since they've filed the complaint but wished they acted sooner.

"They've made some effort to educate the staff and the students. They've said that they've added more monitoring, staff monitoring, of what's going on in the playground and among the students," Miller said. "It's a little too little, too late, but we do see some effort being made.

As her client's daughter moves on to high school, the Brandeis Center hopes the district continues its effort to implement changes to "protect other students."

"We're looking for serious training of students, the faculty, the staff on antisemitism and how to prevent harm to students," Miller said. "We're looking for protection of students who do report any kind of discrimination, harassment or bullying. We're looking for monitoring to make sure over the next several years that any of these reports are taken seriously and addressed right away."