Elite $46,000-a-year Chicago school rocked by anti-Semitism claims as parents threaten to sue after band taunted Jewish students by playing Nazi anthem

An elite $46,000-a-year backstage schoolhouse has travel nether occurrence for alleged rampant bullying and anti-Semitism and parents are present demanding alteration oregon else, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

The Latin School of Chicago is simply a K-12 instauration with a past of privileged graduates specified arsenic Nancy Reagan and the children of Illinois billionaire Governor J.B. Pritzker. 

But the parents, after staying silent arsenic problems spiraled retired of control, accidental the bullying and anti-Semitism their children look has intensified to the constituent that they person hired a high-powered lawyer to unit the 'vanity board' of trustees to act.

Matthew Schwartz, a erstwhile national prosecutor who helped instrumentality down Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff, fired disconnected a scathing 37-page missive demanding an autarkic probe portion threatening litigation.

The request letter, obtained by DailyMail.com, cites an alarming litany of incidents. It says 1 15-year-old committed termination aft alleged cyberbullying from classmates, a subordinate of the cross-country squad yelled astatine a teammate: 'Run, Jew, run, there's wealth astatine the end', and respective mediate schoolers performed a Nazi anthem successful set class.

Schwartz accuses officials of failing to ace down connected this behaviour portion keeping families and adjacent immoderate trustees successful the dark.

Officials 'have persistently failed to discharge their fiduciary duties, resulting successful superior carnal and intelligence harm to students and causing perchance irreversible harm to the estimation and fiscal sustainability of this erstwhile highly-respected institution', the missive states.

A spokesperson for the parents described the committee of trustees arsenic portion of the problem, acting arsenic a 'rubber stamp' for the school, much funny successful the prestige of serving astatine an elite instauration than providing assertive oversight.

As an example, helium highlighted the spectacle past outpouring of students performing Horst-Wessel-Lied,' aka 'Raise the Flag', the now-banned anthem of Germany's Nazi party.

'In the Nazi anthem case, the instigator who is the nephew of the manager of admissions and erstwhile caput of DEI, was not lone not disciplined, but allowed to talk astatine the commencement of the 8th people graduation ceremony,' the spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

The school's erstwhile stellar reputation, however, has deteriorated truthful severely that a 100-plus idiosyncratic substance concatenation of mostly Jewish parents, called the Latin Jewish Affinity Group, formed to stock their frustrations. 

In May, radical members expressed daze implicit the anthem incidental and different wherever a hallway was near decorated with flags that included Palestine's but omitted Israel's.

The spokesperson said parents person been reluctant to talk retired publicly, fearful their kids volition beryllium ostracized oregon miss retired connected prized recommendations for top-tier colleges.

'There's this hidden fearfulness that you're not lone putting a people connected your back, you're besides putting a people connected your child's back,' the spokesperson said.

Speaking with DailyMail.com, 1 Latin School genitor lamented that 'the schoolhouse has for implicit a period built an astonishing estimation that is rapidly heading downhill.'

The father, who's supporting the ineligible action, described however 1 of his ain children was viciously bullied by classmates, and said nary disciplinary enactment was taken.

'We've had aggregate meetings wherever they usage flowery connection implying that they're doing something, but they bash jack all,' helium said. 

'They don't adjacent privation to usage the word 'bullying' due to the fact that I accidental that could get them successful trouble. Instead, they usage phrases similar 'dynamic relationship incident' oregon 'social media incident.'

'The problems metastasize twelvemonth in, twelvemonth out, but they won't code them successful immoderate substantive way,' helium added.

Parents were introduced to the lawyer by Michelle Parker, a nationalist ineligible advisor from New York who specializes successful disputes involving backstage schools.

'Latin School of Chicago is the epitome of what's gone incorrect successful autarkic backstage schools,' Parker told DailyMail.com.

'You person a nonaccomplishment to adhere to the instrumentality oregon adjacent travel their ain policies,' she said. 'You person a deficiency of oversight, accountability, and transparency. And you person a genitor assemblage that sees the wrongs, sees the harm, understands that the schoolhouse and children are suffering, but they're silenced.'

Schwartz, who served 10 years prosecuting fiscal crimes for the Southern District of New York, has been researching the Latin School since aboriginal past summer.

'Over the adjacent respective months, we spent a large woody of our clip talking to families of Latin students some existent and past, to different members of the assemblage and to employees,' Schwartz told DailyMail.com. 

'We reviewed documents, tribunal proceedings, regulatory filings, and besides spoke with experts successful the field.'

His request missive targets Latin's trustees and directors arsenic officers of a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, accusing them of failing to code 'serious and recurring issues wrong the school.'

Notably, helium sent a transcript to the authorities Attorney General's office, which oversees non-profits successful Illinois.

The authorities besides has anti-bullying laws connected the books that necessitate some nationalist and backstage schools to promptly investigate, notify the parents and code incidents.

In fact, the state's precocious echelon of authorities and manufacture leaders are teaming with families who person idiosyncratic connections to the school, past and present. Alumni see erstwhile Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and chewing gum heir William Wrigley Jr. II.

Meanwhile, Diane Saltoun, 1 of school's trustees who is named successful the missive arsenic idiosyncratic who violated their 'duties'. She is besides the enforcement inspector wide astatine the Illinois AG's office.

The school, nestled successful the Gold Coast connected the city's North Side, was founded successful 1888 with conscionable 10 boys and present serves astir 1,200 students from kindergarten done 12th grade. 

It promotes itself arsenic 'one of the city's oldest and astir respected autarkic schools,' providing a 'rigorous college-preparatory education.'

'We are sustained successful this enactment by our values of excellence, assemblage and integrity,' Head of School Thomas Hagerman declared connected the school's website, which besides boasts of its 'diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives' that 'play a important relation successful fulfilling the cardinal facet of our strategical program that is focused connected cultivating '…a much inclusive and supportive clime for each constituents'.

Schwartz's request missive details respective high-profile incidents, including the January 2022 termination of 15-year-old Nate Bronstein, who'd been tormented by students successful a chat radical and bombarded with messages allegedly telling him helium should 'kys' (kill yourself).

The boy's parents person a pending $100million wrongful decease suit against the schoolhouse and accidental helium took his beingness soon aft helium transferred retired of the institution. 

Schwartz takes a wider view. His missive claims that 'the child's parents did not find retired astir immoderate of the bullying incidents until aft the child's death, done a 3rd party. Worse, erstwhile confronted with the facts, the schoolhouse denied them and/or blamed the pupil for the bullying.'

Randall Dunn, the Head of School erstwhile Bronstein was a student, moved connected six months aft the termination to go Head of School astatine the elite Rye Country Day School successful Westchester, New York, Schwartz pointed out.

He cites assorted different incidents during and aft Dunn's 11-year tenure that helium says were likewise dismissed, 1 involving a teacher who allegedly engaged successful crude enactment speech during a people trip, daring insignificant students to lick Nutella disconnected each other.

Another progressive students spreading rumors that Jewish students were liable for the dispersed of Covid-19.

In 2020, the missive continues, a pupil created a fake signaling that appeared to amusement a Jewish pupil saying the 'N-word.' The committee enactment responded by claiming it was not their spot to intervene successful bullying incidents, according to Schwartz.

He said the pupil down the signaling was the 1 who yelled the anti-Semitic slur during a transverse state lawsuit successful the autumn of 2022.

'There are plentifulness of different examples of students astatine the schoolhouse who person been the victims of discrimination, antisemitism, taunting, bullying, and carnal assault,' the missive continues.

It adds that 'the 1 overarching and unmistakable taxable is that the schoolhouse has failed to instrumentality steps to forestall incidents similar these from occurring, has done practically thing to analyse them aft the fact, has imposed nary consequences connected the liable parties, has failed to set oregon enforce policies and practices pursuing these incidents, and has chosen to support parents uninformed astir the dangers to their children…'

Schwartz demanded a 'full and transparent interior probe by an autarkic firm.

'Should the schoolhouse neglect to bash so,' the missive adds, 'then the members volition proceed with the lone different avenue for alleviation disposable to them: commencing a suit to code the misconduct outlined successful this letter.'

DailyMail.com asked the Latin School, Head of School Hagerman, the president of the committee of trustees and the Illinois AG's bureau for comment. None of them responded.