February 10, 2023
An open letter to Pennsylvania Families and Students:
School Boards have a unique role in our society, tasked with the oversight and
governance of public school systems that welcome all students and prepare them to
succeed in their educational careers and in their lives. A crucial part of this mission is
fostering an inclusive, tolerant environment, free from discrimination, bias, or
prejudice. This is particularly true for some of our most vulnerable populations of
students—-those facing any number of different, personal challenges or working to
overcome traditional societal barriers.
We, the undersigned, are elected School Board Directors who denounce intolerance
and discrimination by school boards. As School Board Directors we are tasked with
the creation of an environment that fosters learning for all students, and the
advancement of policies that achieve this goal through tolerance, inclusion, and
equity. It is our job to ensure when students graduate from any public school in
Pennsylvania, that they are prepared to enter the workforce with resilience, empathy,
and a strong sense of self.
We recognize that the passage of policies by School Districts counter to these goals
causes significant harm beyond the borders of those individual districts, including to
our students and families.
School Boards and individual School Board Directors should be working to help
support these populations—-not attack them, or foster intolerance towards them, or
target them for political purposes. Unfortunately, that is exactly what a majority of
the Central Bucks School District School Board has recently done in adopting a policy
that attacks LGBTQI+ students and their allies and directly contradicts our mission
and purposes as stewards of public education systems.
Policy 321 on "Partisan, Political or Social Policy Advocacy Activities” passed by a vote
of 6-3 by the Central Bucks School District Board of School Directors on January 10,
2023, is a direct attack on students, teachers, and community members, and
contradicts the purpose, mission, and goals that all School Boards and School Board
Directors should seek to advance.
On its surface, the policy is clearly targeted to harm LGBTQI+ students and
community members, with the immediate ban of Pride flags hung in classrooms, but
it has already harmed other historically marginalized groups. Just last month, the
world saw the effects of this harmful policy play out in real time, with a school
librarian forced to remove a poster with a quote from Holocaust survivor and
award-winning novelist Elie Weisel, or face serious consequences. Only after broad
public outcry, the district restored the historic quote, but the damage to students,
teachers, and the community had already been done. The broad, unclear, and
downright cruel interpretation of this policy is inflicting direct harm to members of
our communities—-our friends, our neighbors, our teachers, and our children.
Policy 321, and similar policies that may follow, has tainted the public’s trust in School
Boards to foster educational, inclusive, and tolerant environments for learning. The
consequences of implementing extreme, partisan policies that stifle a student’s ability
to learn true history, to express themselves fully, and to be supported by the people
around them will be regrettable and irrevocable.
This letter formally recognizes CBSD Policy 321 as an attack on the LGBTQI+ and other
marginalized communities, both in CBSD and across the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, supports the immediate repeal of CBSD Policy 321, and opposes similar
policies from being enacted in other school districts.We, the undersigned, commit to
fostering an inclusive learning environment for all.
Sincerely,
Ms. Phoebe D. Harris, Allentown City School District
Dan Grzybek, Bethel Park School District
Karen Beck Pooley, Bethlehem Area School District
Emily Schenkel, Bethlehem Area School District
Mariam Mahmud, Central Bucks School District
Karen Smith, Central Bucks School District
Lee Wisdom, Downingtown Area School District
Madhu Gurthy, Downingtown Area School District
Mindy Ross, Downingtown Area School District
Lisa Strobridge, Downingtown Area School District
Dr. Damary Bonilla-Rodriguez, East Stroudsburg Area School District
Andrea Rees, Methacton School District
Monica D'Antonio, Norristown Area School District
Christopher Jaramillo, Norristown Area School District
Ingrid Parker, Norristown Area School District
Marissa Dell, Norristown Area School District
Matthew Rivera, Norristown Area School District
Sharon H. Mauch, Norristown Area School District
Cynthia Wirth, Norristown Area School District
Phil Daniels, Norristown Area School District
Brian Fox, Octorara Area School District
Nicholas J. Rotoli, Owen J Roberts School District
Reena Kolar, Perkiomen Valley School District
Laura White, Perkiomen Valley School District
Sarah Evans-Brockett, Perkiomen Valley School District
Julia Danzy, School District of Philadelphia
Scott Overland, Phoenixville Area School District
Pam Harbin, Pittsburgh Public Schools
Kevin Carter, Pittsburgh Public Schools
Diana Stitt, Pottstown School District
Deborah Ann Spence, Pottstown School District
Laura Johnson, Pottstown School District
Susan Lawrence, Pottstown School District
Katina Bearden, Pottstown School District
Jennifer Iriti, South Fayette Township School District
Jennifer Motzer, Spring-Ford Area School District
Karen Weingarten, Spring-Ford Area School District
Abby Deardorff, Spring-Ford Area School District
Margaret Wright, Spring-Ford Area School District
Erica Hermans, Spring-Ford Area School District
Erin DeRosa, Stroudsburg Area School District
Meredith Hegg, Upper Darby School District
Jennifer Iannitti, Upper Dublin School District
LouCrecie Garlanger, Upper Moreland Township School District
Tiffany Weber, Upper Moreland Township School District
A. Tom Hasani, Upper Moreland Township School District
Sarah Byrnes, Upper Moreland Township School District
Gregory D'Elia, Upper Moreland Township School District
Laura Detre, West Chester Area School District
Jennifer Hoff, William Penn School District
Deanne Moyer Morris, Wissahickon School District
Ronnie A. Hayman, Wissahickon School District
