SFUSD Reschedules Antisemitism Workshops Amid Outcry From Parents, Jewish Groups

Updated 11:15 a.m. Thursday

After pushback from parents and Jewish community groups, the San Francisco Unified School District announced that it was rescheduling mandatory antisemitism workshops for Oct. 9, less than a week after postponing the training sessions.

The American Jewish Committee, the nation’s oldest Jewish advocacy organization, will lead the workshops at four San Francisco high schools as previously scheduled, Seth Brysk, AJC’s regional director of Northern California, confirmed.

The organization was asked to lead the workshops at George Washington High School, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, Abraham Lincoln High School and Balboa High School after Jewish families raised the issue of a reported increase in antisemitism in district schools.

“The district has continued to commit to us that they would like AJC to deliver training for their staff, which includes educators and administrators,” Brysk said. “We’re committed to delivering that training,”

Two days after the cancellation of professional development workshops titled “Who Are the Jews: Jewish Identity and Antisemitism In 2024” became public, four Bay Area Jewish nonprofits responded with a joint statement imploring the district to go ahead with the workshops.

“This cancellation came out of nowhere,” Tye Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, told KQED on Sunday. “No one bothered to consult AJC or the parents before the cancellation. And a huge lack of trust exists with [the district’s] decision.”

The district canceled the professional development workshops after pro-Palestinian parents and community groups raised questions about AJC’s support for Israel amid a war in Gaza. AJC did not take a strong position on Zionism when Israel was founded, but it has since become a strong supporter of Israel.

Alex Lantsberg, a Jewish parent of two students at two of the high schools where the workshops will be held, said that the district’s choice erases those who don’t share mainstream Jewish opinion on Israel’s right to self-determination.

“SFUSD is leaving out a significant portion of its own constituency — families who reject Zionism and object to the ongoing crimes in Palestine — in continuing to rely on this organization to educate teachers and staff,” Lantsberg said.

Brysk, however, pushed back against claims that the workshop would be about international affairs. While it’s “certainly possible” the war between Israel and Hamas will come up in discussion, he said it’s not the workshop’s focus.

“The focus is to explain the three parts,” he said. “Who are the Jews? What is antisemitism? And three, what are things that educators and administrators can do should they encounter antisemitism at schools?”

The rescheduling of the training was first reported Tuesday by The Jewish News of Northern California.

In a statement, Katrina Kincade, a district spokesperson, confirmed AJC materials will be used in the Oct. 9 workshop.

“We are committed to making sure our staff are prepared to support students in addressing anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and any form of hate or bias,” she said.

KQED’s Chris Alam contributed to this report.