Threatened Retaliation against Teachers

Teachers also report being threatened with respect to the recent cover-up of anti-semitic graffiti and middle and high schools. Teachers who urged the district to report these incidents to local police, as required by a Memorandum of Understanding between the Newton Public Schools (NPS) and the Newton Police Department (NPD) were threatened with retaliation by school officials. A letter from the teacher's union to the NPS describing the threatened retaliation also said that had been "unfairly represented" by the NPS with respect to faculty's response to the graffiti.

The police became aware of the incidents when an anonymous letter and photo was sent to the chief of police months later.

The threatened retaliation was also discussed in a report by former Human Resources Department Director Ray Shutleff about the failure to report the graffiti. Although the NPS commissioned the report, it is heavy redacted. The NPS refuses to release a full report of the investigation into the matter and will not release the names of officials who threatened teachers with retaliation, claiming it is a "personnel matter". Despite the matter being reported to Jewish and civil liberties organizations, none have taken any action.