Pennridge School District parents want to know when books secretly banned under the previous Republican school board will be put back on library shelves.
Laura Foster, a resident in the district and a co-founder of RIDGE Network, used public comment at Pennridge’s first policy meeting of the 2024-25 school year on Monday night.
“Our students deserve to see themselves reflected in the books they read and learn about perspectives that are different from their own,” Foster said. “However, there remains to be an important question. When will all the banned books be returned to the library shelves? This includes those covertly banned by board members like Jordan [Blomgren] and Ricky [Chaikin]. The actions of these individuals are not just concerning. They’re dangerous to the integrity of our education system.”
Foster’s comments were regarding a first reading of proposed changes to Policy 109, which concerns guidelines for district library and classroom materials. Ernest Johnson, Director of Student Services & Title IX Compliance Officer, presented a first read of the new school board’s rewrite to a policy that had been overhauled by the right-wing Christian Independence Law Center.
The Independence Law Center is the legal arm of PA Family Council, the Pennsylvania branch of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, an organization designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign.
READ: The Independence Law Center Seeks to Impose its Biblical Worldview on Pennsylvania School Districts
The outgoing version of Policy 109 was adopted by the former board September 27, 2022. Since then, information came to light that language of the policy had been drafted by Independence Law Center Senior Counsel Jeremy Samek. Under his guidance, the current policy greatly hampers professional staff from adding books to their collections. A Beacon article from April of this year included the information.
Currently, the district’s new administration, including Superintendent Angelo Berrios and Johnson, have been reviewing 21 books that were removed from the district without following protocol by the prior school board, a process known as “shadow banning.”
The current review process cannot align with the new policy as it’s not yet been adopted and the board discussed how this could be handled. Ultimately, they decided to pause the review of the remaining books.
“This was effectively a shadow ban that they were just removed from the shelves without discussion,” said board member Leah Foster-Rash.
When it was first discovered that books may have been removed from library shelves without any due process or transparency, Pennridge parent Darren Laustsen turned to Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know law to try to find answers. He was immediately denied the information he was seeking as to why so many books were removed – which he uncovered by using Pennridge High School library’s online card catalog – books that just happened to be targeted by the pro-book banning, anti-government Moms for Liberty group. Laustsen appealed that denial, ultimately ended up suing the district, and won. In fact, and even more damning, Judge Jordan Yeager concluded that the district “effectuated a cover-up of faculty, administrators, and other non-students’ removal of books from Pennridge High School’s library shelves.”
The Beacon asked Laustsen how it made him feel for the new board to so openly acknowledge what the former board had done.
“I don’t know when the newly elected board directors learned the full truth. I suspect that the previous board members weren’t exactly forthcoming about their transgressions,” Laustsen said. “The solicitor also has a history of withholding information from board members.”
“My settlement agreement with the district provided some assurances that certain records (which were withheld from the public) would be shared with the new board members. That may have been a catalyst for the truth coming out,” he said.
READ: Uncovering the Cover-up: How Republican Pennridge School Board Directors Secretly Banned Books
Laustsen added that he would like to know when the newly elected board members learned the full truth, suspecting that the previous board members weren’t forthcoming about their wrong doings.
“After two years of persistent gaslighting and stonewalling, it was refreshing to hear the truth acknowledged at a public meeting. I do feel vindicated and optimistic about the future,” Laustsen said.
Laustsen does have hard feelings toward the board’s solicitor, Eckert Seamans. “I hope the new board members understand the role that Eckert Seamans played in this unfortunate situation,” he said. “Instead of representing the interests of the school district and the public, the firm prioritized the personal interests of board members.”
“Eckert Seamans charged taxpayers exorbitant legal fees for their role in a botched political cover up. It was a clear breach of public trust and professional ethics,” he said. “Lawsuits should not be necessary to uncover which books were illegally banned from a public-school library. There must be some accountability.”
A lengthy discussion continued and with the review policy for the remaining 21 books paused, additional input from the solicitor will be needed before final changes to the policy are added. It was not announced if Policy 109 has been cleared for a second read.
