Alcuin School Sued Over Antisemitic Harassment Allegations

A Preston Hollow family filed suit against Alcuin School this month, alleging the private academy failed to protect a Jewish student from antisemitic harassment and then retaliated against the family when they complained.

The lawsuit targets Alcuin School, the independent college-preparatory school at 6144 Churchill Way, and claims administrators knew about the alleged harassment but did not take meaningful steps to stop it. Alcuin has denied the allegations.

The family’s complaint centers on a pattern of conduct they say targeted their child because of the student’s Jewish identity. According to the suit, school officials received multiple reports about the behavior and failed to respond adequately. The family says that when they pressed the issue, the school’s response made their situation worse rather than better.

Alcuin has been operating in Preston Hollow since 1964. It serves roughly 700 students in pre-K through 12th grade and carries a reputation as one of the more academically rigorous private schools in North Dallas, drawing families from across the Tollway corridor and the Park Cities. Tuition runs well above $30,000 per year at the upper school level. That kind of price tag, many Preston Hollow parents would tell you, comes with an expectation that the institution has its own house in order.

The school didn’t see it that way. In a statement covered by People Newspapers, Alcuin denied the claims and pushed back on the characterization of its response. The school’s position is that it handled the situation appropriately.

That denial didn’t satisfy the family.

“Alcuin failed this child,” said the family’s attorney, according to court filings. “The school had notice, had the opportunity to act, and chose not to.”

The lawsuit arrives at a moment when antisemitism complaints at private and public schools have drawn sustained attention from federal and state officials. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has fielded a significant increase in Title VI complaints involving Jewish students since 2023, with campus antisemitism a documented concern at institutions from elementary schools through universities. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal funding. Private schools that don’t accept federal dollars, like Alcuin, generally fall outside Title VI’s reach, which means the family’s legal options run through state civil claims and contract law rather than federal civil rights statutes.

The Anti-Defamation League’s 2025 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents recorded more than 9,000 antisemitic incidents across the United States during the prior year, the highest count since the ADL began tracking in 1979. Texas ranked among the top five states for total incidents.

Whether Alcuin’s specific response met the duty of care that families expect from a school charging those tuition rates is now a question for the courts.

Alcuin’s enrollment draws heavily from Preston Hollow, the Park Cities, and the broader zip codes along the Tollway. Many of those families have deep ties to Dallas’s Jewish philanthropic community, including institutions such as the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas and the Aaron Family Jewish Community Center on Westgrove Drive. That community connection gives the lawsuit a resonance beyond the single family involved. It’s the kind of case people are going to talk about at Brook Hollow and at school board meetings and over dinner at Al Biernat’s.

The school has not announced any changes to its policies or procedures in connection with the suit. No hearing date has been set as of publication.

Alcuin’s head of school did not respond to a request for comment.