Jewish students at Solon Middle School were met with Nazi salutes, shouts of “Heil Hitler,” and comments about picking up money during a Cultural Awareness Day event on Oct. 22, according to Solon High School student Ayva Rubenfeld. The incident has set off a wave of anger from parents and students who packed Monday night's school board meeting demanding to know how it happened and what the district plans to do about it.
The Solon City School District confirmed it is taking action after the antisemitic incidents at the middle school, according to Yahoo News. District officials reached out to the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland for guidance on additional student education, and the district is now considering adopting the ADL's No Place for Hate program, a student-led anti-bias and anti-bullying initiative already in place in more than 1,600 schools nationwide. Middle School Principal Rocco Sciarabba notified families of the incidents in a letter sent the afternoon of Oct. 23, the day after the reported behavior occurred.
As FOX 8 News reported, families reacted strongly at Monday night's school board meeting, with multiple speakers pressing for answers. Rubenfeld told the board she questioned how the district could allow students to face discrimination while priding itself on diversity and inclusion, and said officials should not prioritize statistics and test scores over harm done to Jewish children.
A Troubling Classroom Moment Surfaces
Solon High School student Lily Ducovna told the board that during a Holocaust presentation, a classmate claimed only 150,000 people were affected — and that the teacher in the room did not correct the claim. Cailey Zelwin, another Solon High School student, said she and other Jewish students have faced slurs, derogatory comments about their noses, and comparisons of her Jewish summer camp to a concentration camp dating back to 2022.
An unidentified seventh-grade student addressed the board directly, saying the history behind the Nazi salute is dark and frightening to Jewish people. The student, who said they visited a Holocaust museum this past summer, warned that antisemitism can escalate from words and behavior to physical violence and urged the community to work together to prevent hatred against Jewish people and other cultures. Solon High School students told the board the antisemitism seen at the middle school was not an isolated incident.
Parents Push For Accountability
Parent Jacquelyne Hostetler demanded clear communication and accountability about the antisemitic incidents and their consequences. Robert Zelwin, a Solon resident and grandparent, called on the board to immediately integrate Holocaust education into the middle-school curriculum, arguing that children often learn hateful ideas at home and repeat them at school. Solon students and families broadly said the antisemitic acts reflect a lack of education, a sentiment echoed by descendants of Holocaust victims who told the board that education remains the best way to combat ignorance, misinformation, and hatred.
The district says it has encouraged parents to discuss antisemitism, harassment, and hate with their children and has offered resources to support those conversations, including three ADL materials: Empowering Young People in the Aftermath of Hate, When Hate Goes Viral: Bias and Antisemitism on Social Media, and Antisemitism Today. The district's strategic plan commits to providing relevant and timely communication to the community and states that diversity is a cornerstone of Solon, according to the Solon City School District's strategic plan, which also pledges the district will always prioritize the safety of its school community.
Part of a Broader, If Slightly Easing, Trend
The Solon incidents come as national antisemitic incident numbers show a mixed picture. The Anti-Defamation League tracked 6,274 antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2025, a 33% drop from 2024 but still five times higher than a decade earlier, according to the ADL's 2025 antisemitic incident audit. The organization called 2025 the third-highest year on record since it began tracking incidents in 1979. Incidents at non-Jewish K-12 schools nationwide stayed relatively stable, dipping only slightly from 860 in 2024 to 825 in 2025, and the ADL noted the vast majority of school-based incidents involve individual, peer-to-peer behavior such as bullying or classroom vandalism.
In Ohio, the trend moved in a similarly uneven direction. The state recorded 117 antisemitic incidents in 2025, down sharply from 233 in 2024 and 237 in 2023, per Mahoning Matters. Yet physical assaults tied to antisemitic incidents rose both nationally, from 196 to 203, and in Ohio, where such assaults went from zero to two. More than 40 antisemitic incidents were reported across Northeast Ohio in 2025, including eight within the city of Cleveland, according to Axios Cleveland.
Solon officials have not detailed a timetable for additional education or further communication to families beyond the steps already announced. For now, the district says it is weighing whether to bring the No Place for Hate program into its schools as families wait to see what concrete changes follow Monday night's emotional testimony.
