The man who is slated to facilitate a Dec. 11 “listening session” for Jewish and Israeli families in the Bellevue School District in Washington state is accused in a federal lawsuit of having failed, in his previous job, to shield a Jewish student from escalating anti-Semitic harassment.
On Nov. 29, 2023, Seattle Public Schools lauded William Jackson, then principal of Nathan Hale High School, for being named the state’s principal of the year.
The Seattle district superintendent said Jackson “has a clear vision of how to systemically build climate for equity, justice and academic outcomes.”
Per Jackson’s LinkedIn page, he left that job in June, 2024. In the interim, he has run an education consultancy and has taught as an adjunct instructor at the University of Washington. In July, 2024, he began as teaching and learning director at the Bellevue district.
As of July, 2025, he has been promoted to executive director of teaching and learning at the Bellevue district.
In June, 2025, the parents of a Jewish student at Nathan Hale High filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Washington for King County alleging that Jackson and Seattle Public Schools were aware of months of threats, slurs, swastika graffiti and direct warnings about the safety of the student, identified as M.K.L.
Jackson and the district failed to investigate or discipline the alleged offenders or follow mandatory response protocols, the suit claimed.
The family withdrew the suit, which JNS viewed, at some point and refiled it in the said District Court for the Western District of Washington on Nov. 20.
According to the complaint, M.K.L. was “a member of the Jewish Student Union,” wore a Star of David necklace and spoke openly about her identity.
Other students told her “they hated Jews” and “expressed their regret that Hitler had not finished the job,” per the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that Jackson allowed students, who took part in a “free Palestine” walkout in November 2023, to display flyers on student grounds and that classmates threatened to “jump” M.K.L. “if she wore any clothing associated with Judaism on the day of the walkout.” Her parents kept her home that day, per the suit.
In May, 2024, some 20 students gathered outside M.K.L.’s classroom and pounded on the door, as her teacher protected her inside, and she text messaged her mother that she really needed her, per the suit. School security arrived and escorted her to safety.
M.K.L.’s parents allege that although security escorted her to her first class the next day, the protection stopped there.
The school advised her to “stop having lunch in public and stick close to teachers between periods for protection,” per the suit.
The lawsuit alleges that the district never called law enforcement, despite a policy requiring it to do so when a student faces “clear and immediate physical harm.”
Jackson told the family that he would review school security footage to “identify students who had been harassing and threatening,” but no students were ever held accountable, according to the suit.
M.K.L.’s parents eventually pulled their daughter from the district.
She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and her parents say that they incurred moving costs, medical expenses and lost wages.
The lawsuit argues that the district violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Equal Protection Clause, state law and its own policies, citing more than a dozen anti-Semitic incidents reported across Seattle schools between 2022 and 2025 as evidence of a broader issue.
‘Understandable concerns’
Jared Nieuwenhuis, a member of the Bellevue City Council, said that while the lawsuit involving Jackson is ongoing, “his placement in anti-Semitism listening sessions raises understandable concerns among Jewish families.”
“Our schools should always be places of inclusion, safety and trust,” he said. “Bellevue must always stand firmly against anti-Semitism in all its forms.”
JNS asked Jackson how he plans to remain impartial while leading a Jewish-focused community engagement process amidst litigation accusing him of indifference to anti- Semitism at his former school.
Jackson answered other questions from JNS about the Dec. 11 “Jewish family listening session,” which he said will advance the district “into the deeper consulting and partnering phases centering the experiences of Jewish students and families.”
The district “has established clear processes” for responding to incidents when “anti-Semitism is brought into the classroom curriculum by teachers, faculty or staff,” he said.
He directed JNS to a list of school policies, which he said was updated in response to feedback from Jewish community members.
He noted the definition of Jew-hatred in the policy, which is part of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition, but without the contemporary examples.
