Sometimes change takes time. And maybe this change didn’t happen as quickly as some would have liked, but the important thing is that it finally did happen.
The new Democratic Pennridge School Board majority, 13 months after sweeping into power in an overwhelming election victory in November 2023, repealed the district’s widely derided Policy 321 in a 5 to 4 vote.
The “Advocacy Activities” policy was passed, or rather rammed through in September 2022 without a second reading by the former Moms for Liberty-Republican board majority. This revised policy was secretly re-written by the Independence Law Center, the legal arm of the right-wing Christian Pennsylvania Family Institute – the state branch of the Family Research Council – which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group for its anti-LGBTQ bigotry. This makes sense given that banning Pride Flags and “safe space” stickers were two of the primary targets of the policy and its backers who were aghast at the thought of them in Pennridge schools. In fact, Republican school board member Ricki Chaikin said at last month’s school board meeting that “straight Pride flags” need to be allowed if the policy is reversed.
READ: Pennridge LGBTQ Students Feel ‘Erased’ After Losing Pride Symbols in Schools
But it also stifled speech in classrooms and in schools at large, and hampered how a teacher might be able to be present and engage with a student in need. The policy both handcuffed and muzzled teachers through its vague language by mandating that while at school they not engage in “areas of advocacy regarding their own personal beliefs including but not limited to religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, social, political and geopolitical matters.” It is something groups like the Education Law Center raised alarms about from the get go.
Before the vote to return to the previous Policy 321 entitled “Political Activities,” which had been working without major incident in the district for a decade, the topic dominated public comment.
“Unfortunately, there are those who oppose this removal, not because they seek to solve problems or improve our schools, but because they want to politicize what should be an act of compassion and common sense,” said East Rockhill’s Laura Foster. “They manufacture controversy where none exists, distracting us with performative outrage and culture wars that only serve to divide.”
She went on to explain how removing this policy is not about politics, but instead it’s about doing right by students by empowering teachers.
“Removing this harmful policy is about giving our teachers the tools to do what they do best: care for our children,” added Foster. “It’s about allowing students to feel safe sharing their struggles and ensuring they have access to the resources they need to thrive.”
Perkasie Borough’s Katy Rene, a Pennridge grad, parent and taxpayer, noted that “the advocacy policy was one of many steps taken by the previous board majority that implied a distrust of teachers, even suggesting that they would commit the crime of grooming.” She supported overturning it because it is what’s best for Pennridge students. “A previous speaker referred to the ‘opposing side,’” she noted. “The only side I’m on is the side of public education, which includes trusting teachers and their expertise and supporting all students.”
READ: When Moms for Liberty ‘Flips’ a [Pennridge] School Board
Perkasie Borough’s Bill Citino stated that the current Policy 321 should be repealed so teachers can fully support students. He said leave it up to administrators to provide oversight.
“The current policy vilifies our teachers instead of supporting them. It prevents them from doing their jobs effectively and supporting their students,” said Bill Citino. “The staff do an amazing job. Speaking personally, we love our teachers and administration at my kids’ school. I’m sure the rest of the district has equally qualified personnel.”
Sellersville’s April Fultz used her public comment to point out that advocacy needn’t be exclusionary.
“Amongst certain groups, there is a continuing misconception that advocating for one person or group must be done at the expense of another,” she said. “This simply isn’t true. There’s no finite quantity of empathy.”
She then blasted the dangerous conflation of teachers and staff’s advocacy, or “supporting and speaking up for students’ needs, rights, and concerns,” with some kind of nefarious attempt to indoctrinate them – or even “groom” them as Republican School Board Member Jordan Blomgren suggested at the October 14 Policy Committee Meeting.
“Exposure to beliefs and perspectives different from your own is also not grooming … misusing this term is irresponsible and reckless,” said Fultz. “Child abuse is a very real problem. Using the word ‘groomer’ to refer to anyone whose beliefs you don’t agree with minimizes actual abuse and can make it more difficult for children to identify and report when they are experiencing abuse.”
When it came time for the board to discuss the policy change one last time before the final vote, support or opposition sadly continued to fall along party lines.
“I just wanna reaffirm my belief that we are restoring trust within our administration, within our teachers. This is one such way we can do so to make sure our teachers have the capacity to meet the needs of our students where they’re at,” said School Board Member Bradley Merkl-Gump.
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The next step will be to decide how the administration can support and empower teachers with guardrails and expectations moving forward.
“I think there’s an important role the administration plays in either policy AR [administrative regulations] or some sort of guidelines,” said School Board President Ron Wurz, noting it’s better they do it than some sort of political action committee or the right-wing Christian Independence Law Center. “I am confident that the administration can police this effectively without need for a policy that is so vague and discriminatory.”
Never mind a discriminatory policy that never should have been passed. But thanks to voters, and the new school board majority, that just changed.
