NJ Education Report

The hijab incident at South Orange-Maplewood School District (SOMA) has a new wrinkle although It should have reached its conclusion by now. According to new court documents, the mother of the second-grader at the district’s Seth Boyden Elementary School whose teacher inadvertently exposed her hair is refusing to sign the settlement agreement.

What’s really going on?  Henry Cittone, an attorney who resides in the district, told me these sorts of shenanigans occur when district leaders are “driven by optics,” not equity. He adds that the actions of SOMA “institutionalize the community antisemitism that drove this case in the first place.”

Here’s a quick catch-up: the Wyatts, parents of the second-grader referred to as SW in the court papers, say their daughter was subject to “abuse,” “discrimination,” “intimidation,”  and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” by her former teacher Tamar Herman. An investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office found no evidence of any of this. The parents sued the district, the School Board, and Ms. Herman, alleging that SOMA committed “negligent, ”willful,” and “palpably unreasonable conduct.” 

After a year-long litigation process–the teacher was immediately put on administrative leave — the lawyers representing SOMA agreed to pay the parents $295,000, with a third going to the mother, a third going to the father, and a third in a trust for SW. All sides—the district, the School Board, the Wyatts, and the teacher—admit no culpability or, as the documents say, “any tortious conduct….The payment is made solely to avoid inconvenience and the cost of litigation.”

This resolution raises three questions: 

• What will happen now that the mother has reneged on her agreement to sign the settlement offer?
• Why is SOMA paying the family so much money when comparable cases settle for far less?
• Where does that leave Tamar Herman who, since the case made national news (the NY Times, Good Morning America), has been subjected to antisemitic smears and denied due process? For instance, Ms. Wyatt posted this on Facebook:

“TEACHER TOOK HER HIJAB OFF && SAID SHE CANT WEAR THAT IN SCHOOL…PUBLIC SCHOOL BTW.” 

““I JUST FOUND OUT THE TEACHER IS  JEWISHHHHHHHHHH  �������������������������� . . . that’s why I  believe she did it now I’m furious.”.  

“SHE’S JEWISH OO SUS GOT A PROBLEM ON HER HANDS.”  

“SHES JEWISH! Period TRY & CHANGE THAT! Imma print 1000 SHIRTS THAT SAYS HERMAN IS JEWISH! Imma keep saying that! Isn’t she? A JEWSIH TEACHER THAT TAUGHT AT  A JEWISH SCHOOL & A PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR 30 YEARS  PULLED MY MUSLIM 7 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HIJAB OFF HER HEAD CLAIMING IT WAS A HOODIES.. SHE”S JEWISH!”

The first question is easy: I’ve been told there will be a settlement conference in January and the mom will sign the agreement.

But what’s up with the $295K settlement? For context, the court documents include “Exhibit E,” which lists settlements from other NJ school districts. Here are summaries of three cases in which a student was subject to some sort of discrimination–or worse:

• In 2020 in Matawan-Aberdeen School District a 10-year-old boy of Puerto Rican descent was subject to racial harassment, tripped in hallways, and mocked because of his weight. While in a school bathroom a boy kicked a bucket of water and urine at him. The district took no action, the parents sued, and settled for a $25,000 payment.
• In 2016 in Barnegat Township, a student suffered “severe emotional distress as a result of pervasive sexual harassment perpetrated by a student over a two year period.” She was called “cunt” and “whore” and had objects thrown at her. The district did nothing. The settlement was $60,000.
• In 2017 in Cherry Hill a high school sophomore was sexually harassed on an ongoing basis by a math teacher. One day the teacher approached her from behind, put his arms around her, and said, “I love you.” When the girl told her guidance counselor she was asked what she was wearing that inflamed the teacher. Her parents put her on home instruction and settled for $85,000.

So how do we get to $295,000? 

SOMA residents tell me the district has a habit of suing a lot and settling a lot. “They settle bullshit cases all the time,” one parent told me. (Your property taxes at work: South Orange has the 13th highest average rate in the state, about $19,000 a year; Maplewood isn’t far behind.)

But what happens to Tamar Herman? Back in October 2021 when the incident occurred, Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad accused Herman of anti-Muslim sentiment on an Instagram post that went viral and Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted it.  Herman then endured a full year of harassment. In October she sued Muhammad and CAIRNNJ, a statewide Islamic organization that had called for the teacher’s “immediate firing.”  She’s already sued SOMA for “complicity in a parade of outrageous, false, defamatory and antisemitic statements and relentless discriminatory treatment,” and has noted that she was deprived of due process.

How is any of this “progressive” by SOMA standards?

Cittone, the local attorney, explains,

When a story like this goes viral due to the actions of local residents who have media connections and reach, it becomes impossible for the district politicians and administration to consider the possibility that the facts differ from the viral social media account.  This creates an inertia, where, over a year after the incident, and after being cleared by the police, the district administration and its counsel have yet to allow this teacher to have the due process hearing required by the union contract – and has forced the teacher to sue the district over the failure to hold that hearing.  One wonders what is keeping SOMSD from holding a hearing.  This behavior by SOMSD institutionalizes the community antisemitism that drove this case in the first place.