The Pine Bush Central School District was established in 1938 in

Pine Bush, New York Pine Bush is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in the Town of Crawford and adjacent to Shawangunk, New York, within Orange and adjacent to Ulster counties in the U.S. It is roughly coterminous with the 12566 ZIP code and 744 telepho ...

, United States, and spans all of the Town of Crawford and includes part of six other townships in

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, Sullivan, and

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

counties. For the 2021-2022 school year, the district approved a budget of $125.8 million and currently enrolls just under 5,000 students. The school district has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in March 2012 by three families alleging inaction following accusations of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and the resultant creation of a hostile learning environment.

Schools

The district has 7 schools. * Pine Bush ** E. J. Russell Elementary School ** Pine Bush Elementary School ** Crispell Middle School **

Pine Bush High School Pine Bush High School is the central high school for the Pine Bush Central School District, located on Route 302 in the hamlet of Pine Bush, New York, United States. The school no longer offers the International Baccalaureate degree program. It ...

* Circleville: ** Circleville Elementary School ** Circleville Middle School ** Pakanasink Elementary School

Towns

Orange County, New York Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798. Orange ...

** Town of Crawford ** Town of Montgomery ** Town of Mount Hope ** Town of Wallkill * Sullivan County ** Town of Mamakating *

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

** Town of Gardiner ** Town of Shawangunk

Alleged antisemitism

On November 8, 2013, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ran a front-page story that detailed allegations of antisemitic bullying in the Pine Bush Central School District and a related lawsuit by the parents of three district students. There were students known to have a good relationship with the teachers and performed anti-semitic rituals almost every day after school. In an earlier ''Times'' article, Philip G. Steinberg, the district's superintendent from 2008 to 2013, who, as well as two other administrators named as defendants, is Jewish, described the lawsuit as a "money grab." In the days following the ''Times coverage hundreds of people protested against "its portrayal of Pine Bush as a bigoted, biased community." The

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Establishe ...

issued a statement in support of the plaintiffs in January 2014. Following a five-month long state police investigation, the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

District Attorney's Office announced in September, 2014, that no criminal charges would be filed against any children and "the investigation revealed no evidence that any school official had engaged in any criminal conduct." On November 4, 2014, Federal District Court Judge Kenneth M. Karas, presiding in

White Plains, NY (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivisi ...

, denied a defense

motion to dismiss In United States law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision. It is a request to the judge (or judges) to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrativ ...

the case brought on behalf of three of the five children included in the complaint.{{cite news, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/nyregion/judge-denies-motion-to-dismiss-lawsuit-over-anti-semitic-bullying-in-a-new-york-school-district.html , first=Benjamin , last=Weiser , title=Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Anti-Semitic Bullying in a New York School District , work=The New York Times , date=November 4, 2014 , accessdate=May 24, 2015

External links

Pine Bush Central School District

References

Shawangunk, New York Education in Ulster County, New York Education in Orange County, New York School districts in New York (state) 1938 establishments in New York (state) Education in Sullivan County, New York