Central Bucks School District forum gets heated over antisemitic allegations amid federal investigation

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. - Central Bucks School District school board is reviewing its social media policy two weeks after a federal investigation was launched into allegations of antisemitism in the district.

School board members shared strong opinions Tuesday night about the level of oversight that’s appropriate for social media accounts that are affiliated with Central Bucks.

Each student, parent and community member attended for their own reason.

"I’m standing up for the Muslim Student Association," said Salman Benjelloun, Central Bucks West High School student. "All the scrutiny that we’ve been through and the discrimination and we want to clear everything up." 

"It's basically outside adults policing the speech of students who are respectful to each other who want to be friendly with each other. It’s only the outside adults that are the agitators," said Egor Sakhbuttinov, another Central Bucks South High School student.

Two weeks ago, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into the possibility of antisemitism at Central Bucks. 

Multiple reports say the complaint involves social media posts by the Muslim Student Association and a supervising teacher.

In a statement, Acting Superintendent Jim Scanlon told FOX 29, "I don't believe the district discriminated against anyone.  As of now, OCR is investigating to determine if there is evidence of discrimination."

Jamie Walker, a Jewish parent in the district, says the posts she saw were offensive.

"I was very upset." said Walker. "I don’t want to say I was totally shocked that it happened because I saw it starting to stem after October 7."

Now, the school board is reviewing its social media policy and throughout the meeting debating what the district’s involvement should be for pages that are not district run, but still affiliated, such as student-run club pages.

There's a lot of tension in the district over the federal investigation and now the social media policy, but the Muslim Student Association and the Jewish Student Union are planning to show their unity in a joint event this upcoming Friday.