Cupertino, CA – School officials in Cupertino are scrambling to
deal with an antisemitic name change that was printed in a high school
yearbook. The family of the student slighted by the prank, meanwhile, wants the
yearbooks recalled.
At the end of team photo in the Monta Vista High School yearbook, a
student intentionally changed the last three letters of classmate’s name to
“Jew.” The insult of the Israeli student apparently slipped past the yearbook
adviser and was published in all 1,600 copies that have already been
distributed to students.
The family of the student said that the incident has caused much
anguish. They said that their family members fled Eastern Europe after barely
surviving the holocaust and they are calling on the Fremont Union High School
District recall all copies of the yearbook.
“The administrative leadership teams at Monta Vista High School and the
Fremont Union High School District are outraged by this incident,” spokeswoman
Sue Larson told the San Jose Mercury News.
“We do not and will not tolerate racial slurs of any kind.”
But district officials also added that recalling the yearbooks “may be
next to impossible because it is unlikely that students will be willing to
return them.”
The yearbooks cost the district $64,000 to produce and sell for $90
apiece.
Meanwhile the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office told the Mercury
News that it is unlikely to charge the student with a hate crime because there
were no threats to his classmate.
School officials said the offending student will face “consequences” but
they declined to say because of privacy laws whether that includes counseling.
Larson said the district will work with the students and community to
make everyone aware of the seriousness of such an act and create a more
“rigorous” system for reviewing yearbook.
