An elite $46,000-a-year private school has come under fire for alleged rampant bullying and anti-Semitism and parents are now demanding change or else, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.
The Latin School of Chicago is a K-12 institution with a history of privileged graduates such as Nancy Reagan and the children of Illinois billionaire Governor J.B. Pritzker.
But the parents, after staying silent as problems spiraled out of control, say the bullying and anti-Semitism their children face has intensified to the point that they have hired a high-powered lawyer to force the ‘vanity board’ of trustees to act.
Matthew Schwartz, a former federal prosecutor who helped take down Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff, fired off a scathing 37-page letter demanding an independent investigation while threatening litigation.
The demand letter, obtained by DailyMail.com, cites an alarming litany of incidents. It says one 15-year-old committed suicide after alleged cyberbullying from classmates, a member of the cross-country team yelled at a teammate: ‘Run, Jew, run, there’s money at the end’, and several middle schoolers performed a Nazi anthem in band class.
Schwartz accuses officials of failing to crack down on this behavior while keeping families and even some trustees in the dark.
Officials ‘have persistently failed to discharge their fiduciary duties, resulting in serious physical and mental harm to students and causing possibly irreversible harm to the reputation and financial sustainability of this once highly-respected institution’, the letter states.
A spokesperson for the parents described the board of trustees as part of the problem, acting as a ‘rubber stamp’ for the school, more interested in the prestige of serving at an elite institution than providing aggressive oversight.
Matthew Schwartz, a former federal prosecutor, fired off a scathing letter to the Latin School of Chicago demanding an independent investigation into the bullying and anti-Semitism that parents claim is happening to their children at the institution
Parents in front the elite school, that costs around $46,000 to attend, protesting the death of 15-year-old Nate Bronstein, who’d been tormented by students in a chat group – he took his life after he left the school
Parents in a text chain of mostly Jewish parents, the Latin Jewish Affinity Group, discussing an incident where several middle schoolers performed a Nazi anthem in band class
As an example, he highlighted the spectacle last spring 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 director of admissions and former head of DEI, was not only not disciplined, but allowed to speak at the commencement of the 8th grade graduation ceremony,’ the spokesman told DailyMail.com.
The school’s once stellar reputation, however, has deteriorated so badly that a 100-plus person text chain of mostly Jewish parents, called the Latin Jewish Affinity Group, formed to share their frustrations.
In May, group members expressed shock over the anthem incident and another where a hallway was left decorated with flags that included Palestine’s but omitted Israel’s.
The spokesman said parents have been reluctant to speak out publicly, fearful their kids will be ostracized or miss out on prized recommendations for top-tier colleges.
‘There’s this hidden fear that you’re not only putting a target on your back, you’re also putting a target on your child’s back,’ the spokesman said.
Speaking with DailyMail.com, one Latin School parent lamented that ‘the school has for over a century built an amazing reputation that is quickly heading downhill.’
The father, who’s supporting the legal action, described how one of his own children was viciously bullied by classmates, and said no disciplinary action was taken.
Schwartz accuses officials of failing to crack down on this behavior while keeping families and even certain trustees in the dark
The letter addresses Nate’s suicide and said the school dismissed the bullying because there was ‘no documentary proof of the message’, but Schwartz alleged they never conducted an investigation into the bullying
The lawyer also addressed another anti-Semitic incident during a cross-country event and a fake recording that a classmate supposedly made of a Jewish child saying the ‘n-word’
A father who spoke to DailyMail.com and supports the legal action said one of his own children was viciously bullied by classmates, and said no disciplinary action was taken
‘We’ve had multiple meetings where they use flowery language implying that they’re doing something, but they do jack all,’ he said.
‘They don’t even want to use the term ‘bullying’ because I suppose that could get them in trouble. Instead, they use phrases like ‘dynamic friendship incident’ or ‘social media incident.’
‘The problems metastasize year in, year out, but they won’t address them in any substantive way,’ he added.
Parents were introduced to the lawyer by Michelle Parker, a national legal consultant from New York who specializes in disputes involving private schools.
‘Latin School of Chicago is the epitome of what’s gone wrong in independent private schools,’ Parker told DailyMail.com.
‘You have a failure to adhere to the law or even follow their own policies,’ she said. ‘You have a lack of oversight, accountability, and transparency. And you have a parent body that sees the wrongs, sees the harm, understands that the school and children are suffering, but they’re silenced.’
Schwartz, who served ten years prosecuting financial crimes for the Southern District of New York, has been researching the Latin School since early last summer.
Parents were introduced to Schwartz by Michelle Parker, a national legal consultant from New York who specializes in disputes involving private schools
In May, group members expressed shock over the anthem incident and another where a hallway was left decorated with flags that included Palestine’s but omitted Israel’s
Parents have been reluctant to speak out publicly, fearful their kids will be ostracized or miss out on prized recommendations for top-tier colleges, a spokesperson said
‘Over the next several months, we spent a great deal of our time talking to families of Latin students both current and past, to other members of the community and to employees,’ Schwartz told DailyMail.com.
‘We reviewed documents, court proceedings, regulatory filings, and also spoke with experts in the field.’
His demand letter targets Latin’s trustees and directors as officers of a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, accusing them of failing to address ‘serious and recurring issues within the school.’
Notably, he sent a copy to the state Attorney General’s office, which oversees non-profits in Illinois.
The state also has anti-bullying laws on the books that require both public and private schools to promptly investigate, notify the parents and address incidents.
In fact, the state’s upper echelon of government and industry leaders are teaming with families who have personal connections to the school, past and present. Alumni include former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and chewing gum heir William Wrigley Jr. II.
Meanwhile, Diane Saltoun, one of school’s trustees who is named in the letter as someone who violated their ‘duties’. She is also the executive inspector general at the Illinois AG’s office.
The school, nestled in the Gold Coast on the city’s North Side, was founded in 1888 with just ten boys and now serves nearly 1,200 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Diane Saltoun, one of school’s trustees who is named in the letter as someone who violated their ‘duties’. She is the executive inspector general at the Illinois Attorney General’s office
Saltoun was called out as one of the trustee’s who ‘violated their fiduciary duties to the school’ by not properly investigating the bullying
The also named the Head of School Thomas Hagerman and the former head Randall Dunn as responsible for the school’s lack of action
It promotes itself as ‘one of the city’s oldest and most respected independent schools,’ providing a ‘rigorous college-preparatory education.’
‘We are sustained in this work by our values of excellence, community and integrity,’ Head of School Thomas Hagerman declared on the school’s website, which also boasts of its ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives’ that ‘play a crucial role in fulfilling the key aspect of our strategic plan that is focused on cultivating ‘…a more inclusive and supportive climate for all constituents’.
Schwartz’s demand letter details several high-profile incidents, including the January 2022 suicide of 15-year-old Nate Bronstein, who’d been tormented by students in a chat group and bombarded with messages allegedly telling him he should ‘kys’ (kill yourself).
The boy’s parents have a pending $100million wrongful death lawsuit against the school and say he took his life shortly after he transferred out of the institution.
Schwartz takes a wider view. His letter claims that ‘the child’s parents did not find out about any of the bullying incidents until after the child’s death, through a third party. Worse, when confronted with the facts, the school denied them and/or blamed the student for the bullying.’
Randall Dunn, the Head of School when Bronstein was a student, moved on six months after the suicide to become Head of School at the elite Rye Country Day School in Westchester, New York, Schwartz pointed out.
He cites various other incidents during and after Dunn’s 11-year tenure that he says were similarly dismissed, one involving a teacher who allegedly engaged in crude sex talk during a class trip, daring minor students to lick Nutella off each other.
Another involved students spreading rumors that Jewish students were responsible for the spread of Covid-19.
Head of school, Thomas Hagerman wrote on Latin’s website that ‘we are sustained in this work by our values of excellence, community and integrity’ as one of the oldest schools in the area
Randall Dunn, the Head of School when Bronstein was a student, moved on six months after the suicide to become Head of School at Rye Country Day School in New York, Schwartz pointed out in the letter
In 2020, the letter continues, a student created a fake recording that appeared to show a Jewish student saying the ‘N-word.’ The board leadership responded by claiming it was not their place to intervene in bullying incidents, according to Schwartz.
He said the student behind the recording was the one who yelled the anti-Semitic slur during a cross country event in the fall of 2022.
‘There are plenty of other examples of students at the school who have been the victims of discrimination, antisemitism, taunting, bullying, and physical assault,’ the letter continues.
It adds that ‘the one overarching and unmistakable theme is that the school has failed to take steps to prevent incidents like these from occurring, has done practically nothing to investigate them after the fact, has imposed no consequences on the responsible parties, has failed to adjust or enforce policies and practices following these incidents, and has chosen to keep parents uninformed about the dangers to their children…’
Schwartz demanded a ‘full and transparent internal investigation by an independent firm.
‘Should the school fail to do so,’ the letter adds, ‘then the members will proceed with the only other avenue for relief available to them: commencing a lawsuit to address the misconduct outlined in this letter.’
DailyMail.com asked the Latin School, Head of School Hagerman, the chairman of the board of trustees and the Illinois AG’s office for comment. None of them responded.
