A student at Centerville’s Watts Middle School deliberately drew a swastika on his arm in front of two Jewish students on the playground at recess Sept. 2.

“Right when I was made aware, I pulled that kid from class, and (the student) did not go back to class until I had worked with the family, and (the student) had the consequence, and had education,” Watts Middle School Principal Brian Miller told The Observer.

A parent of one of the Jewish students told The Observer a student came over to his son and the son’s friend, asked the friend for a pen, and then drew a swastika on his own arm.

“The kid didn’t say anything or do anything else, he just drew it matter-of-fact in front of them,” the parent said.

The parent asked his son if the perpetrator knew that both boys were Jewish. “And he said yes. That was something towards the two of them.”

The parent said the principal handled it very well. Miller responded immediately after the parent emailed him and indicated he was aware.

“We said how disturbed we were by what happened and focused the lens on it being a learning opportunity,” the parent said. “He (Miller) said that while he agreed it needs to be a learning experience, he also felt it was so offensive that a more serious consequence was needed. He certainly apologized and made it clear to me that type of behavior was not going to be tolerated at his school.”

Miller said that for him, it was a standard response.

“Anything dealing with hate, possible violence, anything like that, we respond immediately by removing any individual, and certainly education is part of that, but also, there has to be a consequence.”

The principal said that several diverse groups and subgroups of children comprise the 800+ student body at Watts.

“Students are made aware that any hate speech, anything like that against any group — religious, cultural — there always has to be a consequence. Even if it’s just one child, we don’t want anyone to think that’s ever OK. It’s a pretty heavy-handed response, but I think it’s important that that’s how I’ve always responded. I wish we had zero incidents, but I handle those quickly, responsibly.”

Miller said he thinks this was a case of ignorance on the student’s part.

“Any family I’ve worked with in these types of situations has always been shocked, upset, disappointed in their child’s choice. I’ve never had any parent respond any differently.”

— Marshall Weiss

To read the complete October 2026 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.