High school students in East Brunswick who received a yearbook with a photo of Muslim students on the page for a Jewish students’ group may return yearbooks to the school starting Monday for a replacement page as the investigation into the unexplained change continues.
“A new ‘club’ page reflecting the newly photographed Jewish Club and a roster of their membership is already being printed,” said the district’s superintendent, Victor Valeski, in a statement on Friday.
“Starting Monday, students should return their yearbook to EBHS or the Administration Building, 760 Rt. 18, to have the old club page removed and a new page professionally inserted,” he said.
Last week, seniors received the 2024 yearbook with a page listing the Jewish Student Union in a section for school clubs. However, the names of the students in the Jewish club were missing and the photo that should have been on the page was replaced with an image of Muslim students at the school, including some wearing hijabs.
School officials have not said if they believe the switch was a deliberate act of antisemitism, a prank, an error or something else.
The school board approved Valeski’s recommendation to hire an independent investigator to determine how the switch was made during a meeting Thursday that ran until midnight, officials said.
The district initially opened its own internal investigation, but officials decided to hire the independent counsel after hearing from the community.
The school board has hired Yaacov Brisman, of Brisman Law in Passaic, to conduct the investigation, following a suggestion from the board’s attorney, MyCentralJersey.com reported.
Valeski did not say how much the investigation would cost, but he said the results will be publicly reported.
District officials are also looking into “cooperative learning tolerance programs” intended to address students’ comments made at the school board meeting concerning bullying, intimidation, antisemitism and bias in East Brunswick schools, Valeski said.
East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen initially called the switch was a “blatant” act of antisemitism that warranted an urgent investigation. He also questioned whether it was a hate crime.
In a statement released Friday, he said there was a missed “teaching opportunity.”
Muslim and Jewish students alike, as well as yearbook students, advisors and school administrators have been subject to attacks this past week, he said.
“In no way was I ever implying that I have determined blame or intentionality,” said Cohen, noting he’s glad the district has hired an independent investigator.
He also urged officials to make the report public once it’s completed.
“Additionally, we learned last night at the Board of Education meeting, that there have been years of deep-seated pain felt by Muslim and Jewish students due to acts of Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia that was reported and dismissed,” Cohen said.
“If we are truly the community I spoke about at the top of this statement, then this must be addressed immediately,” he added. “In the meantime, we should all take a step back and turn down the heat.”
NJ Advance Media staff writer Jackie Roman contributed to this report.
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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
