Head of NYC’s $63k-per-year Collegiate School is forced to resign after branding anti-Semitism taskforce a ‘power play by Jewish families’

The head of New York’s oldest school has resigned, a week after he was accused of dismissing the anti-Semitism task force as a “joke.”

The private collegiate school’s board of trustees launched an investigation after more than 100 Jewish parents said its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack did not “meet the moment.”

But headteacher David Lourie is said to have described the move as nothing more than a ‘power play by Jewish families and New York City rabbis’ to have him removed as headmaster.

The head of the task force, Anna Carello, found that an English teacher had accused Israel of genocide in front of sixth and seventh grade students shortly after the terrorist attacks, while two others had addressed a Holocaust survivor who had been invited to to speak at the school.

“I feel like Collegiate has become a training camp for Columbia,” one parent at the $63,400-a-year elementary school told the New York Post.

Dr. Anna Carello, Associate Head of School for Academics, claimed that Lourie dismissed her investigation as “nothing more than a ‘power play by Jewish families and New York City rabbis’ to get him removed as headmaster.”

The allegations came to light after Carello sued Lourie last week for gender discrimination, claiming he undermined and sidelined her research as “punishment” for her work with Jewish families.

Her May 17 report found that some staff blamed “wealthy and influential” Jewish parents for tensions at the boys’ school, which was “close to one of the oldest and most widespread anti-Semitic tropes.”

It revealed that high school English teacher Dwayne Alexis was “relieved of his teaching duties after teaching controversial lessons about the Middle East to his seventh-grade social studies class and sixth-grade world history class,” with some parents claimed he had accused Israel of genocide.

It also emerged that two upper school teachers had been ‘reprimanded’ after asking ‘pressing questions’ at a Holocaust meeting at a school.

‘A Holocaust survivor was invited to speak at school and a teacher took it upon herself to ask him a series of questions, including: ‘Can the swastika be a symbol of peace?’ one parent claimed.

“People have lost confidence, there is no clarity on morality, there is pervasive anger and this is all caused by an erosion of trust,” another added.

Carello claimed her investigation was hampered by having to teach Alexis’ classes after he was suspended.

And concerned parents were not reassured when her report ran to nine pages, compared to the 400 pages of the school’s 2020 response to “institutional and other racism that permeates so much of our society.”

The investigation was sparked by a letter from more than 100 Jewish parents claiming the school’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack did not “meet the moment.”

Carello’s report found that Dwayne Alexis, a high school English teacher and track coach, allegedly accused Israel of genocide and showed “videos without context” to his classes of 6th and 7th graders at the school.

The school claims to be the oldest in the country with a founding date of 1628 and an alumni that includes JFK’s son and grandson, actor David Duchovny, rapper Lil Mabu and socialites Jack Schlossberg and Cornelius Vanderbilt II.

Four years ago, an internal task force recommended changing the mascot, motto and seal because they could be considered offensive.

And last week, the class of rising seniors signed a joint letter to staff and parents demanding they stop imposing “specific political opinions” on them.

“We would like to emphasize that the moral leadership that is best for our community is one that prescribes not what we should believe, but how we should interact with others in rational, open-minded, and empathetic discourse,” they wrote.

Lourie, a graduate of Yale and Columbia, said he decided to make the “difficult decision” after consulting with the Board of Trustees.

“After four years of shared successes alongside challenges that required difficult and sometimes divisive decisions, we agreed that a new head of school is best for the boys and the school community as Collegiate begins a brand new school year in the fall. he wrote in a statement.

“We obviously live in a time when so many decisions are fraught with uncertainty, disagreement and division,” he added.

Four years ago, the school dropped its “offensive” mascot, believed to be a caricature of Peter Stuyvesant, and replaced it with a silhouette

Famous alumni of the prestigious school include David Duchovny and John F Kennedy Jr

The school claims to date back to 1628 and has occupied 17 different sites in the city

“Every decision then, every decision now, that has been my guiding principle: what is best for the boys and their learning and well-being.”

Jonathan Youngwood, chairman of the school’s board of trustees, said the appointment of an interim principal was imminent.

“As we transition to new leadership, I recognize the serious concerns and discussions underway at the school this year,” he wrote.

“Amid this transition, I ask that our community treat each other with respect and kindness.”