Notes from CB March Meetings

The school board met on Friday to accept the resignations of Board members Mrs. Sciscio and Mrs. Cannon. After public comment, President Smith announced the application process for filling the board vacancies for Region 4 (Warrington Township 2, 6, 7, 8) and Region 7 (Warrington Township 1, 3, 4, 5, Warwick 1). Many community members asked that this process be transparent and bipartisan. The application is on the CBSD homepage.

Our thoughts before we share some of the public’s comments: 

We believe we need to be able to talk to each other, engage in principled deliberation, and follow research-based decision making, not political agendas. Promoting tolerance and progress through open conversations and creating space for all points of view and perspectives that leads to improving our public schools is necessary work.

As one parent said: “I am asking you to find ways to empower the true backbone of this district—your teachers and staff on the ground—to guide educational policies. And to find ways to make policies that provide checks and balances to the immense power on this dais, so that we are not held to the whims of 9 people.”

Public comment:

Many speakers called for unity, healing, and a returned focus on educating students. 

Many asked for the vacant seats to be replaced with Board members who can authentically represent various points of view in our district, and for the selection process to be transparent and fair regardless of political party.

One speaker shared their desire for thoughtful and considerate discourse, and quoted JFK: “Let us not seek the Democratic answer or the Republic answer but the right answer.”

One speaker asked for board members who will support and offer training to our educators as they navigate the challenges of emotionally charged disinformation campaigns designed to create fear and limit age relevant curriculum, books, and materials that involve topics of race, gender, and sexuality.

Many speakers see this as an opportunity to improve collaboration and respectful dialogue within the Board.

A few people spoke about Mrs. Sciscio’s and Mrs. Cannon’s resignation letters and allegations of Board misconduct.

Others recounted the dysfunction of the past and called on the new Board to remain focused on creating good policy, fighting for ALL kids, and pushing past the chaos.

Our schools must be places where children of all races, genders, religions, abilities, and backgrounds are free to learn all that they need to reach their highest potential.

We sense a dedication to constructive problem solving over covert machinations, power plays, and finger-pointing. We believe work in service of ALL students will help us become wiser and more compassionate together across our differences, something we very much look forward to.

You can listen to the entire meeting here.

Last Wednesday evening Acting Superintendent Dr. Scanlon updated our community about the plan to offer full day kindergarten, move 6th grade to middle school, and move 9th grade to high school. His presentation was packed with a lot of very helpful information.

Highlights include:

Steering committee, consisting of about 85 people, has been working for almost a year conducting research, analysis, and best practices about how to make these changes.

Community feedback summary: big support for full day kindergarten & grade realignment, staff input is critical, general concerns about timing, financials, and details.

Redistricting is not part of this plan. Based on enrollment numbers and data, all three HS can accommodate 9th grade at this time without redistricting. 

Timing is challenging for classroom planning, revision to Program of Studies (including offerings for 9th grade students), budgeting, staffing, and certifications.

Transition planning was suggested by some community members and will be considered for the kids who are moving into the bigger school for the first time to give them a day or two to acclimate.

Transportation needs about 6-8 months for scheduling, so that is not an issue, as they have plenty of time to plan.

CB has the building space at each of the 3 high schools, but it’s too complex to translate into written notes. We suggest you view the slides, time stamp 33.21. 

How will we pay for this? We again suggest you go directly to the budget section, time stamp 40:50. This part of the presentation is very detailed, and we are not numbers people. They are projecting a tax increase of about $106 a year for 5 years. That cost goes down a little the later we start realignment.

When will realignment happen? Business & Operations will discuss the timeline in committee this Wednesday, Feb. 28 @ 7pm. Full board will decide on March 12.

You can listen to the entire presentation from 2/21 here.

The short version: a lot of good work got done. Then at the very end, furious aggrievement. Our notes document it all.

All nine school board members were in attendance. The meeting began a half hour late and community attendees were told that they were still in executive session. You can listen to the meeting here.

First came the superintendent’s report, with news of many accomplishments and good works by our students. They have received awards for science and for media/documentary filmmaking among many others. Dr. Scanlon made special mention of Black History Month and the Lunar New Year, commending teachers for working those lessons into their clubs and classes, with an emphasis on the many achievements of Black artists throughout history. We believe the district will share more details soon. In service to the community, students have created crate blankets for abandoned animals, blankets for children as part of the Linus project, hygiene bags and sock drives for the unhoused and much more. Dr. Scanlon also pointed out that January is School Board Appreciation Month and had swag bags with little gifts offered by all the schools for each school board member, including a pair of black and yellow striped socks from the Titus Tigers. Go, Titus Tigers!

There was public comment:

*denotes AFIE comment at the end.

One speaker asked that the Remind App remain untouched, pointing to its value to coaches and club advisors to let kids know about meetings, changes in schedule, and much more since only teachers with official rosters of students have Canvas pages.

Another speaker referenced the Valentine’s Day Massacre outside Chicago and drew a straight line from Al Capone to Moses Annenberg to Walter Annenberg and the Philadelphia Inquirer, which, he attested, participated in the character assassination of taxpayers. Also a Citizen Kane reference.

The next speaker called for diversity of viewpoint, emphasizing that we desire different views to be aired and heard both in s.b. meetings and in classrooms. He called for us to love the individuality in all of us and not to participate in group think.

Another speaker echoed these statements and asked the school board to “Do better.” He wanted them to listen to each other and listen to the public.

The next speaker pointed to comments made by some board members previously that indicated that they voted for the separation agreement between the board and Dr. Lucabaugh without reading it and asked is that a common practice, to vote on contracts they have not read? Do you consider that ethical? Have you exercised your responsibility ethically?

The next speaker addressed the equal pay lawsuit and had evidently misunderstood the evidence presented in that case, citing two teachers who were in fact placed on different steps and columns, resulting in a pay disparity. She asked if there is any proof of discrimination against women teachers and demanded that no settlement offer be entertained unless there is proof of such discrimination. She also asked if there was a quid pro quo agreement between would-be voters and newly elected school board members.*

The next speaker addressed the item in the agenda about teachers attending conferences. She had concerns that one school board member has spoken approvingly of what the public speaker regarded as an anti-Semitic organization and wanted to ensure that our teachers would not be hearing anti-Semitic sentiments at the workshops. She also requested that she be allowed to donate books to our school libraries so as to balance out the viewpoints presented.**

The next speaker objected to Mrs. Cannon’s position on the board at the Intermediate Unit. She suggested Mrs. Cannon tried to block one of that speaker’s students from a placement with the I.U. as part of her degree program, preparing her to teach deaf and hearing-impaired students. The speaker accused Mrs. Cannon of parroting defamatory lies told about the speaker as a coordinated attempt by agitators to get her fired from her job, repeating those partisan attacks as if true and using them as reason to disqualify the student. In the speaker’s view, having allegedly conducted a personal vendetta at the expense of an aspiring teacher disqualifies Mrs. Cannon from serving on the I.U.’s board.

The next speaker also objected to Mrs. Cannons position on the board at the I.U., pointing to her belief she was indifferent to student welfare expressed in school board meetings over the past year. In this speaker’s view, this demonstrates that she is not a champion for all students.

The next speaker commended the new board majority and asked that they not be distracted by the “right wing agenda.”

The final speaker raised questions about the teacher conferences to be approved that night as per the agenda and requested that the full information about those conferences be included on the public section on the website, as she had been unable to learn what the conferences were about and who was to attend. She called for greater transparency. She also asked if the Visitor Management System would be limited or applied more broadly as she had objections to some of the applications of that system. She took offense at the term “far right agenda” and said that those who attend school board meetings come because they care. She asked for proof of accusations made earlier in the public comment and called out others for name-calling.

AFIE notes:

*Quid pro quo means in Latin, “This for that.” It indicates an agreement where one party gives something in exchange for something else. This cannot apply to voters. Voters always ask their candidates to make promises and fulfill them. Once they have voted, they cannot take their vote back. If a voter is disappointed in their candidate for not doing what the voter wanted, that reflects an all-too-common reality, and the voter has no recourse other than to write an angry letter and switching candidates next time. It does not indicate a “quid pro quo.” In fact, a disgruntled voter offers proof positive that the candidate has departed from the voter’s wishes.

** There are several safeguards and policies that libraries typically have in place to prevent individuals, including wealthy donors, from exerting undue influence over their collections. These measures are designed to maintain the integrity, diversity, and relevance of the library's resources. Libraries aim to maintain their role as unbiased information providers and prevent any single individual or group from dominating the collection with specific perspectives or interests. Library collections are built by our librarians, who have done years of college level work in the subjects of acquisition and fairness, to create a wide variety of titles that will appeal to as many students as they possibly can. Just as the community cannot tell the teachers how to structure their lessons or try to go into the classroom to teach the kids themselves, neither can the community start stuffing the library with titles they find acceptable.

Announcement of the Realignment Informational Meeting on Wednesday February 21 at Tohickon.

Committee reports:

Mr. Haring presented the actions of the Business and Operations committee. He said that the conferences were described in an attachment that the board received. Dr. Scanlon said he would be sure that they were included in the public-facing part of the website as well. Dr. Scanlon reassured the audience that the Visitor Management System would include only the one function.

Mrs. Reynolds presented the actions of the Curriculum Committee (see our notes on this meeting here)

Mrs. Smith presented the actions of the Policy Committee.

Mrs. Cannon presented information from the I. U.

Mrs. Sciscio presented news from M.B.I.T. and read the names of the many medal winners in all sorts of competitions. Read the full list here.

Business Department presentation from Mrs. Hauser, who was on video as she was snowed in and had a number of downed branches.

Then the board moved expeditiously through the agenda, approving almost all the items unanimously, including the purchase of all texts recommended by the Curriculum Committee for piloting at our various schools.

Mr. Haring read a statement about recent hires in CB. There were two men and one woman and he pointed out that nearly 400 women have sued the district for pay discrimination, claiming that CB does not award all their years in other schools to women when they often do award those years to men. Here is a case in point, he said. The men have contracts immediately, but the woman will have to undergo the contracting process and hope to have a contract within 3 months. The men are getting credit for their years in other districts and the woman is not.  He said all of this information is readily available through public records and is not a matter of anyone’s word against another’s. It’s precisely what the women bringing the lawsuit have alleged. Mr. Haring voted no on this item and Mrs. Reynolds and Dr. Mahmoud abstained. The other 6 board members voted yes.

Immediately before adjournment, Mrs. Sciscio asked to speak. She said she wanted to address a topic one of the people had addressed during public comment: Group Think. She said she had been thinking and praying about concerns the public is not privy to. She said one issue stood out in particular and she had grave concerns because the board was not being given all the information.

She then mentioned Mr. Conn by name. She said he had accused her of colluding with Dr. Lucabaugh’s lawyer. She indicated that this attack was part of the “settling of political scores.” She read aloud a lengthy email she had sent Mr. Conn and alluded to nasty emails she said he had sent her. She mentioned Mr. Conn’s wife and said there is a conflict of interest. She re-asserted her belief that sunshine laws were violated in Mr. Conn’s appointment.

The board majority disagreed with her remarks and took issue with what she was saying. They warned her of rules about confidentiality. Dr. Mahmoud said that Mrs. Sciscio was commenting publicly on ongoing legal matters that could compromise the district’s standing. At some point, the board majority adjourned the meeting over her remarks and left the room. The mic was cut. Even as most of the audience other than her supporters left, Mrs. Sciscio continued.

What follows is what Mrs. Sciscio and Mrs. Cannon shared publicly. This is not a transcript or a recording, just written notes taken while they were speaking.

Mrs. Sciscio said she had sacrificed her family time, her finances, and much more for the board and she was heartbroken. She said the “stuff that was going on behind the scenes would blow your mind.” She concluded that the board majority had a plan to make it so difficult for her and other minority members that they wouldn’t be able to stand it and would quit. She said it was all about power. 

She said there are concerns of legal liability, legal jeopardy, to the board individually. She said that she would not incur the risk of paying the penalties or costs associated with those actions.

She said, “They don’t pay me enough” to put up with this. “I can’t. I can’t.”

“Every taxpayer should be concerned. I’d like to say a lot more.” She indicated that she planned to resign her position, but she didn’t even know how to do that since the board majority doesn’t allow her to speak.

Then Mrs. Cannon spoke up. She said she was disgusted. She echoed Mrs. Sciscio’s concerns about being individually liable for costs associated with board actions. 

She said she is appalled at the arrogance and self-righteousness of the board majority. She said the minority was not allowed to speak. “They don’t want to hear what I have to say.”

She then addressed the fact that business had been conducted at meetings in December. Alluding to her absence from those meetings, “You don’t know what my December was like.”

She added, “This is beyond unethical. It’s unlawful.” She said that the board majority knew that what they were doing is wrong and yet they chose to move ahead. She said they must “pay their handlers, pay back their voters.” She said, “This is wrong and there is still more ahead.”

She said she would submit her resignation. 

Both Mrs. Sciscio and Mrs. Cannon made a number of allusions to matters they could not openly discuss. There are issues of confidentiality, things discussed in executive session.

The audience expressed their support for Mrs. Sciscio and Mrs. Cannon. One person said, “This is the beginning of the end.” They heard some of the board majority laughing behind the door to the board meeting room and said, “They’re laughing at us.” They said quite bitterly that the board majority does not care about kids. One person concluded, “Jesus is still Lord of Lords and King of Kings.”

You can read an article published about the meeting here. 

Public comment:

The first speaker, a retired CB teacher, pointed out that for decades, CB has not invited input from teachers or students. She applauded the idea of having student representation on the board and she asked that the board pause the effort for realignment. Although she supports the idea of including 9th graders in high school, she believes that teachers need more time to offer input, brainstorm ideas, trouble-shoot likely obstacles, and more. We should at least wait until we have appointed a new superintendent before undertaking this huge logistical puzzle.

The second speaker objected to what she saw as violations of Sunshine Laws and intimidation and threats against local residents. She asked for openness and transparency as well as respectful listening.

Policies discussed:

 626: minor changes. Voted to forward to the board.

 006: changing order of business to allow public comment before approval of minutes. Voted to forward to the board.

 012: student representation on the board. Our interim superintendent said that there had been discussion with principals and they favored trimming back the policy to allow for more flexibility in the Administrative Regulations that specify how the policy will be implemented. Voted to forward to the board.

 109.1: the policy governing supplementary curriculum materials and textbooks. Committee members said they had not heard from parents on this matter. There appears to be some confusion about how much teachers draw from news reports, fine art reproductions, timely essays, and many other resources to enhance their students’ experience. One committee member asked if teachers could list all this at the start of the school year (they cannot). The committee was desirous of accommodating the sensitivities of all CB families. Dr. Scanlon made clear that principals are ready, willing, and able to address any issues that arise and that for the most part, teachers exercise notable tact. Voted to forward to the board.

 109.2: the policy governing library acquisitions and processes for opting out or challenging books. The committee was assured that we do have an opt-out form on the website and a form to challenge a book, but that the old guidelines would apply: the book must be considered in light of its literary merit and in its entirety. Committee members wish for parents to know that they are the final word on what their children choose to read for pleasure and that their concerns about reading material will be honored. The committee voted to hold back this policy for one more month to give parents a chance to respond before forwarding it to the full board for approval.

AFIE note: We saw in the discussion of policies 109.1 and 109.2 that teachers’ and librarians’ voices are crucial to forging good policy. We cannot ask them to do more than is humanly possible. We need to implement a way for those who must carry out the policies to weigh in, safely and without fear of reprisal, on what is workable and what is not.

Several items were discussed, including:

I Love U Guys Standard Response Protocol and expectations for notifications to emergency responders and officials that the District is using the I Love U Guys Standard Response Protocol (SRP) for emergency preparedness.

Approval of a contract to purchase Raptor School Visitor Management cloud based platform as part of the larger security management systems.

Paving, roofing, and renovations to several schools.

District Electric Vehicle Pilot Program (we have one currently and folks love it)

Capital project updates.

And the most anticipated agenda item: Realignment!

Perhaps the best way to sum this meeting up is to share the presentation on proposed realignment.

The basic take aways are:

Pros:

Full Day Kindergarten launches on time as communicated

6th graders have access to middle school courses and after school activities

Ninth graders gain access to high school courses and athletics; busing is no longer needed

We will be able to analyze necessary spacing while 9th is in HS

Cons:

Decisions need to be made asap

Rigorous timeline

Spacing in high schools will be tight.

Classrooms will need to be utilized all four blocks of the day.

Planning centers for teachers will need to be turned into classrooms

Alternative planning spaces will need to be created

Classes with smaller enrollments may not run and students will need to select alternative courses

We may need portables

Following this meeting, Dr. Scanlon sent out a Realignment Update:

Dear Central Bucks Staff, Parents, Students, and Community Members:

We invite you to an in-person community update on the District’s work in exploring full day kindergarten as well as realigning our grade structure in our schools:

Wednesday, February 21 at 6 p.m. at Tohickon Middle School, 5051 Old Easton Rd, Doylestown.

You can find the latest information about realignment here https://www.cbsd.org/cbrealign. To help us best prepare for this meeting, we hope you will submit questions about the realignment process to this online form, so we have time to thoroughly review and address them. We will do our best to respond to questions publicly as well as individually in email.

The realignment committee, which includes staff, parents, students, and community members, has been studying this plan for seven months. This meeting will provide an update on the progress the committee has made in analyzing these changes, and share a potential timeline for next steps. We will post the presentation on our website by February 21st. At this time, our School Board is expected to decide on next steps at its March 12th meeting.

We look forward to seeing you on February 21st. If you cannot attend this meeting, please look for continued updates on this plan via email and on our website.

We appreciate your ongoing support and engagement in this important initiative.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jim Scanlon

Acting Superintendent

Public Comment:

One speaker only, who asked our attention to the neurodivergent and special needs students who “fall off the cliff” when they graduate. These young people have much to offer and they learn and thrive in our programs—can we do more for them? Including them benefits all of us. “We all have a gift.” Please continue to bear these students in mind and expand our services to them, as well as including them in classes with neurotypical kids.

Then a series of presentations about programs sought and requested for CB schools and subjects.

1. “Your Digital World” offered by the Network of Victims’ Assistance (NOVA.) There are 3 themes to this discussion-based program: Upstander Behavior, Cyberbullying, and Your Digital Footprint. Parents have been asked about what various kids are posting: 6th grade is when many students go from content-consumers to content-creators and we need to help guide them to prudent choices. Cost: $390 for all six sections of 6th graders.

Board members asked if this program could be rolled out at the other elementary schools and heard that it depended on the principals. Perhaps this would be a useful pilot for the other schools to assess whether it best fit their needs. The board asked how teachers would be trained and they were told it would be shown to teachers before the students. The principal pointed out that this is an effort to prevent problematic behavior. There is also what happens when students violate school policy, when school administrators speak with the students and families and levy consequences.

2. Stacy Gray, World Language Coordinator, addressed two separate needs:

a. AMIRA, a program to help ELD students practice reading and speaking in English. With our rising ELD population (we do not use the term English as a Second Language anymore because for a number of these students, English is a third language or more), we do not have all the ELD teachers we need at all the schools AMIRA could help those teachers help the students when they are stretched thin. It also can be used from home. Cost: $20 per student. Note: this is for grades K-6. We do not yet know of a comparably effective program for middle and high school ELD students.

b. Resources for our teacher of Chinese. There are currently 69 Chinese Language students distributed across our 3 high schools, and one teacher. She is using an outdated program that has only CD’s, no web-based support or electronic resources with minimal vocabulary exposure. The cost of the program under consideration is $20, 879.00. One member of the board asked if the Chinese program could be expanded to middle school. Ms. Gray responded to that question with a question of her own: Do you know any certified Chinese teachers? She said they are unicorns.

3. Unified Art, Music, and Family and Consumer Science. Our administrator in charge of pupil services, Ms. Alyssa Wright, spoke of the need to include our neurodivergent and differently-abled kids in these subjects. She said our inclusion practices are outdated. We have now integrated these kids into the “specials” in elementary school with great success. Not only are the special needs kids thriving beyond expectation and even hope, they are bringing awareness, compassion, tolerance, respect, and so much more to their neurotypical peers. The idea is to pilot the unification of these subjects one a time in the 2024/2025 school year: Art at South, Music at East, and FCS at West. Then with what we learn from those pilot programs we will broaden to all 3 subjects in all 3 high schools in the 2025/2026 school year.

4. English Language Arts.

a. middle school textbooks. The last purchase of textbooks for middle school was in 1995. The two under consideration are Savvas (to be piloted at Tohickon) and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (to be piloted at Lenape). The cost is $63 per student.

b. Geodes reading resources. Cost: $114,810 for a level 1 class set and a level 2 class set for each elementary school.

We heard quite a lot about the state of reading instruction, how it has gone from a “Balanced Literacy” approach to what is now called “The Science of Reading.” The research suggests that not all students learn to read well without systematic instruction in phonics. Simply enthusiastically immersing students in great books does not always produce great readers. Now the trend is toward phonics instruction, broken down piece by piece and taught and tested, which is shown to help many readers, especially those who initially find reading difficult, achieve proficiency.

(AFIE will have more to say on this topic at a later date).

The teachers are asking for reading materials that echo what is being taught, step by step, so students can transfer what they’re learning about phonics to actual stories. The stories come in 2 levels.

Level 1 topics: Humanities, Life Sciences, Our World, Arts and Literature

Level 2 Topics: Arts and Literature, Exploration, History, Humanities.

The idea is to work on 2 foundational aspects of reading simultaneously: Word Recognition, which includes decoding, recognizing sounds of letters, and related skills; and Language Comprehension, which entails such components as background knowledge, vocabulary, language structure, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge.

These teachers believe that the Geode resources would be a valuable support to our beginning readers. CB expects that by the end of grade 2, students should be proficient, strong readers.

5. Math Facts. CB expects that by the end of grade 3, student should have mastered their math facts, including simple arithmetic up to 20. Ten minutes of each math class are devoted to practicing these math facts and the teachers are requesting a web-based program, “Reflex Math,” to help. They say that parents ask for a way to help their kids practice at home. “Reflex Math” drills kids on their facts and when they succeed, their reward is a game with more math facts. The idea is to make it fun and give them sufficient practice that these facts are second nature. They are particularly pleased that the program tracks students’ progress and offers teachers information about strengths and weaknesses. The pilot would be free, and then it would cost $79,821.45 for the 24/25 and 25/26 school years.

The board approved all these items for advancement to the whole board for discussion and consideration.

We were unable to attend last Thursday’s school board meeting in person, but we listened online.

We would like to call the community’s attention to the first speaker. He said truly that we have a communication problem here. He cited research to the effect that we suspect and worry that we are more polarized than we actually are—and that those who are the most engaged in advocacy and political action are likely to take a dimmer view of their opponents than those less engaged.

To correct this imbalance, and its accompanying tendency to view anyone who differs from us as thoroughgoing blockheads, we need to gather in good faith, in conversation, with cooler heads to advance and improve our neighborhood schools.

This speaker offered to share ideas for how to create an open forum, based in mutual respect, founded upon principles of receptive listening. We hope our board will reach out to him and will convene such a forum without delay.

Here’s the roundup of some of the speakers, as best we can tell from the recording, which had some issues with sound:

A number of people objected to the financial obligations entailed upon us by the previous board, in particular the severance package offered to our outgoing superintendent and the legal bills paid to Duane Morris.

A number of people objected to the policy decisions made by the previous board, including the library book policy, the athletic participation policy, and the classroom décor and discussion policy.

One speaker alleged that hiring Dr. Scanlon as interim superintendent amounted to “indoctrination” of the populace, evidently believing that it is standard practice for the public to interview candidates for that position when that has never happened.

A few speakers mentioned the lawsuit alleging violations of the PA Sunshine Act (This lawsuit claims the board did not give proper notice for the Dec. 4 meeting, that it approved the Nov. 14 meeting minutes before the board held its public comment, and that the district improperly advertised its Dec. 13 policy committee meeting by not approving the meeting date at a public meeting.)

One speaker welcomed Dr. Scanlon to the district. When she was an elementary student in CB, he was principal of her school.

As far as actions taken, there was the following:

Announcement of Support Staff Job Fair on Monday, February 12 from 4:00-7:00 at CB South. They are looking to hire bus drivers, custodians, office assistants, and classroom assistants.

Approval of the minutes of the last meeting. This was more contentious than one might anticipate and there is ongoing controversy about the approval of minutes from years past. We will probably hear more on this topic.

Approval of the proposal to hire Dr. Scanlon interim superintendent. Some board members viewed this as an insult to Dr. Malone and they questioned the necessity of an interim, the cost to the district, and the speed with which the decision was made. Others thanked Dr. Malone for his help at this difficult time and opined that it’s unfair to ask one person to do more than one hefty full-time job, citing the district’s very complex grade realignment as an example. You can read more about Dr. Scanlon here.

Approval of the proposal to hire Mr. Conn as solicitor. Some on the board alleged violations in vetting the candidates and allegations of lack of communication. The board majority clarified that several communication efforts to include the board minority were made.

Approval of various retirements.

It would have been naïve to think that an election would solve our issues in Central Bucks. That was never going to happen immediately, no matter who won or who lost. We disagree with one another about how our kids should be educated, who should lead our district, what books should be in the library, what is permissible speech in the classroom and what leads to alienation of some students, which students should be allowed to play on which sports teams—and no doubt many other issues.

On the agenda: suspended Library & Materials Policies 109.1, 109.2, Partisan, Political, or Social Policy Advocacy Activities Policy 321, and Sex-Based Distinctions in Athletics Policy 123.3. The board also discussed new policy: 012: Student Representative(s) to the School Board.

The board stressed that these policies deserve significant discussion because they want opportunities to hear from ALL stakeholders, and no quick action will be taken.

Public comment featured many different perspectives on all of the policies, but especially the athletics policy, which was the only policy the board chose to hold off on until the Dept. of Ed issues regulations, now expected in March 2024. District Solicitor Conn believes, as does the Education Law Center, that this policy violates Title IX as the Dept. of Ed has currently interpreted it. Mr. Conn also added that the vast majority of school districts in PA have no such policy. The board decided that if the need for policy comes up after they receive new regulations then they will take it up then.

Student representation on school board: Majority board, principals, students, and administration are in agreement that student representation is important as it supports initiatives in the community while fostering a greater student understanding of the civic responsibilities that form the foundation of our democracy. They spent time discussing details, such as how to include representatives from all 3 high schools. This policy moves forward.

Materials policy 109.1: the board will look at the old retired policy and PSBA’s most recent recommended policy and continue discussion next meeting.

Library policy 109.2: the board discussed the online form that parents can use to restrict access to library books for their own children. Board Director Reynolds asked to consider adding “subject” to the form. The form’s language as it stands now: “Please list the titles of the books you wish to restrict or provide a description of the content.” The decision was made to use CB library coordinator’s 2022 proposed policy as a starting point for discussion. The board also discussed potentially requiring anyone challenging a book to obtain signatures, as you would for a petition. There was agreement that the current challenge process, while important to uphold, is onerous and costly. They agreed to look at other districts’ challenge process as potential models for CB’s, and that better communication about parental restriction forms is a good way forward.

Partisan, Political, or Social Policy Advocacy Activities Policy 321: The board began by stating its favorable view of the prior PSBA version of Policy 321, which prohibited electioneering in the classroom. However, the board also recognized that some community members have expressed concern that staff’s political opinions are being shared in the classroom. Solicitor Conn shared that historically, the vast majority of school districts deal with such concerns as they arise as part of the teacher evaluation process. Director Reynolds stressed the importance of open dialogue and conversation between parents and teachers, where these concerns could be fittingly addressed. Director Foley suggested that professional development, including inherent bias training, could help. Deep concern for the untrue and disrespectful use of the word “indoctrination” in the suspended policy was shared. Director Foley stressed that conversations that begin in the classroom are expected to continue in the home, and the idea that CB had a policy that suggested students were being manipulated in the classroom is not at all factual. No teachers are having conversations in the classroom that they don’t expect will continue in the home. This assertion is dangerous and false, and the suspended policy promoted this idea. President Smith wants to keep this discussion going and encouraged community members to continue giving feedback. Director Gibson wants to be sure the policy serves the community. Several directors suggested town halls, parent advisory committees, and other ways to build community and conversation, voice, dialogue.

You might think that now the election is over, things would calm down in CB. Au contraire, mon ami, au contraire. Our school board majority, with whom we have had so many disagreements, chose to go out with a bang, standing up for the powerful and standing down for the powerless. Profiles in courage? Not so much.

This month’s school board meeting differed from previous ones. It was worse. We met in the auditorium at CB West. We appreciated the board’s decision to change the venue so as to allow more people to attend, but we did not anticipate the shift in tone and manners this would permit. A number of people we did not recognize seemed to be feeling their oats that night and there was a notable lack of decorum. Some speakers at public comment struggled to make themselves heard over the din. Questions were shouted. Jeers and taunts hurled. We know that some people went home chagrined and shaken.

Nevertheless, there was big applause for the arrival of both the minority board members and the majority board members, who entered the auditorium in two separate groups. We’ve seen estimates that there were 300 people in attendance, perhaps 2/3 of them opposed to the agenda in part or in whole.

Also in attendance: a number of news outlets.

We learned that Mr. Jeffrey Garton, school board solicitor for twenty-five years, has determined to resign. We learned later that he did not prepare the separation agreement between the board and Supt. Lucabaugh and was not in a position to address questions about its legality. He also said clearly that he would not miss public comment.

During public comment, we heard warm praise of Dr. Lucabaugh from six people. They spoke of his leadership, his warmth toward students, the merits of the strategic plan drawn up at his direction, the very difficult path he has navigated while under consistent attack, and his handling of the crisis posed by Covid.

We heard from two current CB students who spoke about their frustration and anger at the current board and Dr. Lucabaugh for not doing more to protect LGBTQ students.

And we heard from more than twenty other speakers who opposed the separation agreement and the athletic policy banning trans students from the sports team that corresponds with their gender identity.

We also heard many questions about the separation agreement, such as:

Why did they give him a raise in July for the specific purpose of retaining him when they knew the election was coming and evidently, his commitment to CB lasted only as long as the board majority?

Why the hurry? Why spring this binding legal document on people less than 24 hours before it would be considered for vote?

How is this exorbitant payout to one outgoing individual justified?

Why all the language about covering for any misdeeds Dr. L might be found to have committed while superintendent?

Why all the restrictions on what any future board member might

say about Dr. L?

Is this action legal, considering this is a lame-duck session?

Who wrote this? What was their authority to do so?

The separation agreement struck many speakers as exorbitant and an attempt at a cover-up, of what we cannot fathom.

The first public speaker was the legal representative for an employee of the district who, the lawyer made clear, had filed objections to Dr. Lucabaugh’s conduct at some point in the past few months. What the allegations were and how they were dealt with we do not know. The lawyer wanted the district to hold off on passing the separation agreement until this matter could be cleared up.

We heard from a former school board member who called her support for Dr. Lucabaugh at that time her biggest mistake she made while on the board.

Public comment was limited to 90 minutes and there were several more speakers on the list who were denied the chance to speak. Their names will be first on the speakers’ list next month.

Then the board began their discussions. They passed policy 123.3 over the objections of our minority board members who called the policy exclusionary, unfair, and unwise. They said it will likely be revised when the new board is seated next month.

They also passed the separation agreement, also over the objections of the three minority board members, who called it an insult to taxpayers. Mrs. Hunter said that the separation agreement will cost the district less than what he would be owed if fired, as the new board plans to do. We heard no answers to the questions above. They took the vote and passed the agreement.

After the meeting had been adjourned, Ms. Dell’Angelo spoke about her years of service on the board and her love of the CB community.

You can read coverage of the meeting here, here, here, and here.

Notes from CBSD School Board Meeting, October 10, 2023

Superintendent’s report:

We are proud that CB East has once again been named a Blue Ribbon School.

There will be a new training for teachers: Prepare. It has to do with health and wellness and school crisis response teams, but the presentation did not offer details.

There will be training for student safety on awareness of body autonomy offered through a contract with NOVA: Network Of Victims’ Assistance. Parents may preview the program at a number of events to be announced shortly.

Update on transportation problems: we heard an extended and heartfelt apology for issues with getting kids to school on time in September, most of which, we understand, have now been resolved.  Some of the issues can be traced to understaffing. CB has raised wages for bus drivers, has instituted training for new drivers, and continues to search for qualified candidates. The bus network is highly complex and on the whole our buses are serving our students well, but every late child is educational time lost and our district leaders take this very seriously.

There was a motion to recognize the horrors going on in Israel and signal support to those in our community most directly affected by the violence.

Public comment:

A number of speakers decried name-calling.

Some of them then called out people by name who they believed were to blame for the ugly climate.

Some asserted that all the ugliness emanated from one side of the political spectrum.

We heard more about the relative threat posed by guns and chairs along with much heated assertion about the intent behind the possessors of those objects.

Some speakers called for the resignation of various board members, some of whom have made clear their plans to step down at the end of the year.

One speaker ceded her time to a video recording of a college athlete who urged us to eliminate trans girls from women’s sports teams. This video had already been shown in its entirety at last month’s policy meeting.

One speaker asserted that books in our libraries should seek to promote virtue and suppress vice, according to God’s laws. This despite the fact that literature has only ever sought to examine what people actually do, to enlighten us about the truth of the human condition, never to urge us to good behavior. This has been true since literature first appeared in The Epic of Gilgamesh in roughly 2100 B.C. (We wonder if Gilgamesh would be banned in our schools today, as it contains rape, enslavement, theft, and the calming effect of a harlot on the wild man, Enkidu).

We heard that Back To School Night at CB West was a big success and the teachers distinguished themselves. Sadly, we also heard of a now retired teacher, called out by name, who did not rise to the speaker’s expectations last year.

We heard an impassioned and moving speech by the president of the union of CB’s support staff. She spoke of the district’s decision to subcontract out that work as a betrayal.  She said that our support staff is exhausted, begging for respect and solutions to staff shortages. “You should have raised our wages to market value years ago. We have not failed you but the district has failed us.”

We were reminded of the time last winter when a librarian was told to take down a posted quotation from Elie Wiesel because it was judged to have fallen short of the new policy banning “indoctrination” in classrooms. That quotation in its entirety: 

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.” 

We heard from a former board member who said that this board majority was missing the point. She said that the current board majority focuses on themselves and blames others, that they claim the status of victim. They have turned 350 teachers who want equal pay with their male colleagues into bad guys. They scapegoat teachers for the district’s shortcomings. They spend a million dollars defending themselves when they could have solved the problems. They leak emails to discredit those who raise questions about their leadership.

James Harris, the CEO of Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of Bucks County awarded one of CBSD’s principals for being a leader in the community.

A frequent speaker at our meetings who does not live in our district read aloud a series of emails between one of our school board members and a private citizen. They were from private email addresses, not district addresses. We do not know how he came by them since he has no power to RTK private emails. It remains a mystery.

A former CB student whose parents were politically active in our community before their untimely death spoke. She said they would never have censored books from her, nor ideas of any sort. She said, “This is not the CB I know.”

One local man brought in a mailer he had received that so offended him, he wished to inform the community that he would vote for the other political party.

Then we heard the business the board conducted:

There are at least 100 vacancies in key support staff positions. This is a grave problem. Our support staff are essential to our children’s experience at school. CB is now paying market value, according to our board.

The board then discussed policy 123.3, which we learned Sunday morning was heavily influenced by the Christian law firm, Independence Law Center, through a relationship not made official via a contract. No doubt we will learn more about that in the future. The Education Law Center (not the same entity at all) issued CB a letter advising them that the policy they were considering violates federal and state civil rights laws.

Dr. Dell’Angelo asked if the ELC letter was correct, that we do not want to be out of compliance. We make athletic opportunities available to all kids. Mrs. Collopy responded that all kids have a chance to play sports regardless of gender identity. We take that to mean that trans girls have the option to play on boys’ sports teams. The statistics show clearly that trans students are at elevated risk when they use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their sex assigned at birth.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Pepper went on an extended examination of the equal pay lawsuit brought by more than 350 women. He began by pointing to his experience as a plaintiffs’ lawyer and his many years litigating suits similar to the one brought against CB. He said a number of times that Central Bucks’s legal counsel has said there has been “no unlawful discrimination.”

That is what we expect him to say. When a settlement offer is on the table, it would not do for your lawyer to say publicly that the case against you is strong.

Mr. Pepper went on to detail the cuts the district would have to make to pay out this settlement demand. He painted a vivid picture of schools being bulldozed.

What he did not address was negotiating with the plaintiffs.

Nor did he address the economic devastation to the district should they lose the suit and have to pay much more than the settlement offer.

He also neglected to address how it is that more than 350 women might claim that they were deceived and underpaid.

Nor did he address why it might be that the judge in the case has repeatedly urged the district to settle the case before it went to trial.

Mr. Pepper used the platform granted to him by the voters of our community to imply that if you owe a whole LOT of money, and paying it back would hurt your finances, you should not be forced to do so. Also that 350+ women teachers in our district are out of line.   

And that’s our summary of the October school board meeting.

In the superintendent’s report we learned the following:

CB has secured Security Resource Officers (SRO’s) for all 3 of our high schools, which Dr. Lucabaugh characterized as a “monumental achievement.” You can learn about the kind of training they receive here. In this article, there is a bit more context about how officers are prepared and deployed in schools and what safeguards must be put in place. And in this article you can read the controversy around SRO’s.

Some in our community have mixed feelings about police officers in schools.

We hope that our SRO’s will protect and serve our students with kindness and wisdom and that their presence in our schools will foster compassion and understanding throughout our community.

Our district’s legal advisor gave an update to a topic we don’t recall having heard a first bulletin about: the equal pay lawsuit brought by more than 350 women in CB. Mr. Levin asserted that in his view “there is no unlawful discrimination” in CB, but evidently the judge disagrees, for he has repeatedly urged CB to settle. Despite that advice, the district has insisted that a settlement was out of the question until recently, and the plaintiffs’ lawyer duly sent the offer. Mr. Levin objected to the amount of the settlement offer, saying that to pay these teachers what they have said they are owed in back pay, plus damages, plus lawyer’s, fees, would badly damage the school district’s finances. We are at a loss to understand these remarks. If the women are correct that they were discriminated against, and if the judge and our legal system determine that this is the case, then the district must pay them the money it legally owes them. Pay discrimination against women is illegal, whether in large amounts or small amounts and irrespective of the benefit to the organization that allegedly discriminated. 

You can read the teacher and her attorney’s response here and here.

Our district’s comprehensive plan continues apace with goal-setting, many, many meetings, a sense of clarity about what we hope to accomplish with our students, and priority areas, including academic excellence, health and wellness, technology and innovation, and community engagement, all of which feed in to our “portrait of a graduate” that entails Balanced Individuals, Resilient Learners, Effective Communicators, Responsible Citizens, Critical Thinkers, Thoughtful Collaborators, and Adaptable Innovators. It’s clear that our administrators are busy indeed. 

As every parent knows, the unfolding of an educated child into an educated adult has less to do with what you predetermine you want to see and much more to do with the innate talents and interests the individual child possesses, but there’s nothing wrong with articulating the mission.

The realignment of which grades go to which schools is underway. The idea is to move 6th graders from elementary and put them into middle school, and to take 9th graders out of middle school and send them to high schools. This poses some challenges for our district, but it’s a more natural grouping of students and will allow for much greater engagement in extracurricular activities and clubs in our 3 high schools. Students will have their 9th grade year to adjust to the realignment of friend groups from different middle schools and the rising to higher academic expectations and greater independence. Then by 10th grade they can dive in to the extracurriculars that form so meaningful and enjoyable a part of their high school experience before the crush of 11th grade and college applications take up much of their free time. We applaud this change in our district.

Our kindergarteners had the opportunity to sign a pledge that promised they would strive to honor the ideas behind “portrait of a graduate”, in the hope that their eagerness and confidence will see them through to academic achievement.

We had a round of well-deserved accolades for our custodial staff, who work tirelessly over the summer to prepare our buildings for students returning to school. This is a huge job and they do it effectively every year, entirely behind the scenes. We are proud of our custodians and owe them our gratitude.

At the policy committee meeting this week, policy 123.3 was voted out of committee to be moved forward for first read at the school board meeting next month. This would ban trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.

Also at the meeting, the committee determined that they had finished their work and policy revisions were complete. They have canceled policy meetings for October and November. Curriculum committee meetings will move forward one hour to 6:00.

We began with Dr. Lucabaugh outlining the benefits of participation in athletes for our students—so many benefits: shaping holistic development, fostering central values and skills beyond the field, increasing student’s leadership abilities, sharpening time management skills, learning how to manage both victory and defeat with grace. Then Tim Donovan, Social Studies Supervisor K-12 and co-chair of the strategic athletics committee, presented on the topic of the strategic plan for athletics in Central Bucks. They have a mission, they have goals, and they have a clear sense that reaching to our students via sports is a clear path to success for many students. Clearly the district takes its mission to help kids find their calling via teamwork, physical activity, sportsmanship, leadership, and all the rest very seriously, and rightly so. Mr. Donovan said that there would be a booklet outlining the strategic plan for athletics by the end of the week.

Then we had a presentation on SRO’s in our schools and where we stand with that. Our school board majority went to some lengths to excoriate the “political” objections by the County Commissioners and others to providing an SRO for each of our high schools, despite the fact that they all voted in favor of it. We can all agree that keeping our kids safe is our number one priority. We’d like to note that we can both whole heartedly believe this and share evidence that Security Resource Officers in some cases do more harm than good: see here, here, and here.  Nevertheless, Central Bucks moves forward to putting police presence in every high school.

Next was public comment. As follows:

Fiscal irresponsibility of the raise given to our superintendent. The board fails to reflect the will of the governed.

Congratulations to the board on the raise given to our superintendent.

Do not remove books from our school libraries.

Do not erase Black history, as is happening in Florida.

A moving speech by a former CB teacher, who had hoped to make that her career, but who determined that she had to resign. You can listen to the speech in full here, minute 54:19. Her essential point is that our admin do not value our teachers and will lose more and more of them and fail to attract new talent. As she said, “It is time to do better.”

SRO’s belong in our schools and it’s a shame that the powers that be seek to block them.

We talk at length about protecting girls, but what about top quality education about puberty, safe sex, and consent? What about good, varied books in the library? And while we’re at it, we must provide products for girls who have their periods in school. Some schools have banned backpacks and even purses. Middle and high school girls are hiding their pads and tampons in their boots, up their sleeves, in their bras. Even the paid dispensers often fail to work. We must provide these products free to all menstruating students so they can learn, free of humiliation and constant trips to the nurse’s office.

About school taxes: I pay them every year, but I don’t expect our top-paid employee getting a 40% bonus and my hard-earned dollars lining the pockets of Philadelphia lawyers with agendas. It’s a moral injustice.

Dr. L deserves his raise and more. Climate change is a hoax. White killers like OJ walk free. LGBTQ people are lying.

We must protect girls’ sports from transgirls.

Our taxes aren’t so bad. If teachers think their work conditions are so bad, get used to it. We don’t want “biological men” participating in girls’ sports.

The one public comment that garnered some reaction from the board was the teacher who had resigned. Two different board members pointed out that they modified the school calendar as a result of teacher feedback—true compassion. They also called attention to Dr. L’s tour of all the schools, meeting with teachers to hear their concerns. They failed to mention that on that tour, Dr. L met with selected teachers (mostly department coordinators) only in the presence of the building administrators, along with board president Dana Hunter. So anything any teacher had to say had to be said in front of ALL their bosses—hardly conducive to full disclosure.

For a more accurate sense of how teachers feel and whether admin is listening, we await the full findings of the survey conducted by CBEA, in which 17% of teachers said they felt their work was valued by Dr. Lucabaugh and other district administrators. Not what you’d call a ringing endorsement.

The rest of the meeting was uneventful—you can see the agenda here, with largely procedural issues pro forma.

Karen Smith did ask, and was granted in a rare moment of condescension by the board majority, to disaggregate the payment for the right wing law firm Duane Morris from the rest of the budget items. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Mahmoud voted against the half million dollar payment.

CBSD Policy meeting, August 2023

Public comment:

In favor of policy 123.3 about trans athletes on sports teams. The speaker drew attention to the fact that visiting teams would have to abide by our policy and trans girls would be disallowed from competition in CB.

In favor of policy 123.3. The speaker spoke from her own experience as an athlete in high school who worked her way up to #1 on her team and doubted that this would be possible if there had been trans girls on the team. She said it would be “demoralizing” for girls to compete with or against them. Also, evaluations for administrators need to be based on more than mere standardized tests.

Against policy 123.3. The speaker asked for a pause so we can listen to the experiences of families of trans kids in our district, so we can put into place commonsense measures that would make participation in sports easier and better for all our kids, and so we can avoid unintended consequences of girls having to prove their femininity with invasive tests when their athleticism is questioned.

Against policy 123.3. The speaker called this policy a distraction from our real problems of learning loss, staffing vacancies, and fiscal irresponsibility; a political stunt; a strategy to drive a wedge in our community; a part of a national extremist agenda of discrimination.

Committee discussion of policy 123.3 included statements against the policy by Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Mahmoud, who called for more information and a pause on moving forward. Mrs. Mahmoud said there would be legal issues over this overreach of the board and called the intent of the policy “hurtful.” Mrs. Collopy pointed out that there are differences between boys and girls. Mrs. Sciscio and Mrs. Vlasblom reminded the board that there had been a speaker on this issue at the November board meeting and that was ten months ago, and in that time the board minority had not brought forth a speaker of their own. The board minority members said they had not seen any policy until now. It was agreed that the minority could propose a speaker to educate the community on these issues and Mrs. Sciscio said she would allow a speaker to present.

Committee discussion of policy 903—in reference to the ceding of time by one speaker during public comment to another.

Mrs. Vlasblom asked again to limit speakers to 3 minutes. Mrs. Smith said that if people come to speak to the board, they should listen. Mrs. Collopy said that whether people cede time to a friend or pass their speech to a friend, it amounts to the same thing.

They also discussed a request that they verify the identity of speakers, who sometimes sign in under a false name. They agreed that they did not have the time, power, or ability to do this. Mrs. Vlasblom said, “Some people go by a different name and in their world that’s who they are that day,” perhaps signaling her support for fluidity of identity?

Committee discussion of policy 312—in reference to evaluation of superintendents.

The issue here is not basing everything on standardized test scores, which have fallen of late. The faltering test scores cannot be blamed entirely on our admin and their evaluations should not suffer as a result of circumstances beyond their control. Mrs. Collopy added that test scores must be acknowledged. The board concurred and said the policy could remain in its current wording for it provides for alternatives to test scores in evaluations.

CBSD Curriculum Committee Meeting, August 2023

No public comment.

The world language coordinator presented about the trip to France with students and then pitched a new curriculum, Common Lit, for English Language Development which will help teachers of these students at each stage of their making their way in the U.S.: transition, newcomer, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The curriculum provides materials to help kids at each grade with each of these stages and offers a wealth of support for students and teachers in a multitude of languages.

There was a presentation by staff developers and teachers about a program to help our middle schoolers learn study skills, such as vocabulary learning, note-taking, time management, the use of their agendas for scheduling assignments and noting due dates, and much more. This program is to be incorporated in their InC classes in 7th grade with the goal of helping them adapt to the greater responsibility for their own learning in middle school and beyond.

AP Physics is looking to add Physics B/C and E/M.

On Tuesday, Abe Lucabaugh received a plum contract, with a 40%, $90,000 raise, and very, very generous bonuses including weeks of paid vacation, sick time, provisions for buy-backs on all of that time—it was a sweetheart deal.

We learned that it was negotiated with what appears the majority of the board left out of the conversation, and instead presented to them as fait accompli just days before the meeting at which they were to vote on it.

The board minority raised a number of questions, such as:

Why the rush? Why must we do this now?

Why not ask our input? The input of the community?

Dr. L has done a fine job in many ways, but he does not always answer the emails or questions of the board minority. He can do better.

Are we prepared to give such rich raises to all our administrators? How about to our teachers when their contract is up?

What message does this pay raise send to our other employees? To our community members?

Can we afford it?

The justifications for this surprisingly generous offer included:

When we hired him, he was untried and so we paid him a low salary while he learned the ropes, but now it’s time to put his salary on market value

Other nearby districts pay far more than we do but with fewer students and less complexity in the job

Dr. L has done a great job. Look at how he found out about a predator in one of our schools when the D.A. couldn’t find sufficient evidence to prosecute.

He is an instructional leader

For a summary of contract changes here is a useful table, compiled by a community member.

There was no answer to multiple questions about whether we could afford it. That has not entered the calculations, as far as we can see from the board’s comments. When Dr. Dell’Angelo asked about this, pointing out that we gave support staff a 1.5% raise and we can’t fill those positions, and so we will probably have to raise taxes again to support Dr. L in the lifestyle to which he would like to become accustomed, no one answered.

The upshot: the district can evidently afford whatever it wants to afford. It can afford Duane Morris and it can afford a champagne salary for Dr. L. But it cannot afford to pay its female teachers what it has allegedly cheated them out of.

Another interesting moment arose when Dr. L proclaimed loudly that he will not stand for sexualization of our children. “I’m coming after you!” he thundered. Whom is he coming after? Unclear. Several speakers during public comment remarked upon the vague nature of this threat. Did he mean people who think kids should get to read the books their librarians chose for them? Possibly so, for he made a point of conflating those people with actual predators.

As one parent responded:

“It is both unfounded and frankly disgusting to connect access to library books to criminal behavior when the opposite is far more likely to be true. Furthermore, it is very disturbing that a district superintendent would issue a direct threat to members of the community based on their views about library material.”

For the record we condemn all abuse, in any form, of children, and of any person. We regret that it seems necessary to point this out. Some members of our community and our school board suspect that predators are everywhere and those who believe kids might want to read challenging books want to enable them. This is absurd. It’s insulting. It’s ridiculous. And we state clearly and forcefully: it’s a lie.

We applaud the fact that Dr. L did his job in tracking down and identifying a person who posed a risk to our students. We also applaud Dr. L for undertaking training for staff and students about the risk of abuse so they can recognize, resist, and report it.

Let’s remember what preceded these actions: brave student speakers who called for policy reform and training measures, and people like us who asked for them, as we know top quality information is our clearest defense against victimization. Action on this matter shows that our collective voices created a drumbeat that led to positive change.

We do question why Dr. L, a mandated reporter, just like every other CB employee, received a new contract years ahead of the expiration of his current one. Although he went beyond reporting to issuing an internal investigation (we ask that a report be made publicly available), it remains fiscally irresponsible to award a new contract of this magnitude at this time.

With excessive spending like this, on top of $1.4 million dollars to whitewash claims of alleged discrimination of LGBTQ kids and $100K on a PR firm to defuse anti-LGBTQ criticism, we are deeply concerned about CB’s ability to do the work they are hired to do which is to educate ALL 17,000+ students.

Another choice moment came near the end, when Mrs. Cannon asked Mrs. Smith, “Why should we tell you anything?” Which nicely demonstrated the degree to which this board has sunk into dysfunction. And these are not just words, because in fact it seems they are not telling anyone anything (see our opening paragraph.)

Twenty-two speakers spoke against the pay raise, the library policy, and related issues. Four speakers spoke against trans athletes, in favor of the pay raise, and in favor of Dr. L.

Some snippets from the 4:

Trans girls have no place on our girls’ sports teams (+ personal attacks on an individual).

Thank you, Dr. L, for eliminating a predator from our schools.

When will we hear the other side thank you for that?

Kamala Harris and others are falsely attacking Florida’s new history curriculum.

M4L is not a hate group: the protestors at their convention were the ones expressing hatred.

We need to raise Dr. L’s pay to the market rate in order to retain the talent and stability he represents.

Some snippets from the 22:

There is no good-faith negotiating here

We’re seeing a perverse use of language

You’ve painted yourself as a victim: not a good look

Outsiders with agendas are poisoning our discourse

In Central York, they have found a way to accommodate all parents’ guidance of their children’s reading by separating books into separate sections, any of which could be restricted by parents for their own children. We could implement similar policies here.

I don’t want a bully as a superintendent.

CB faces a lawsuit brought by 370 current and former employees, women who say they were systematically denied pay based on their sex. The damages could amount to as much as $100 million. While this pattern of discrimination predates Dr. L ‘s appointment as superintendent, he is responsible for what occurred on his watch. Shouldn’t we hold off on rewarding him and save our pennies until we see what happens with that lawsuit?

I’m more worried about what my child sees on a phone than what he reads in a book. I hope he reads those books. Then we could talk about it. I could do what a good dad does: guide my kid through the challenging questions.

The redistricting meeting was a disappointment. We need to see the proposed maps ahead of time and hear proper presentations about their merits. We need to see the agenda. Please change the process so the public can inform themselves.

This pay raise is fiscally irresponsible.

Why did we only hear about it on Monday? In July?

Blatant lack of transparency

Invest taxpayer money in students and classrooms, not administrators

How could you eliminate the library supervisor now? Library guidance is more important than ever.

Our teachers do not speak about politics or gender identity or sexual orientation. They are too busy teaching.

Our district is very likely out of compliance for kids with disabilities.

Why does one school board member interrupt to call another school board member names?

My family has lived in this town in the same house for 100 years. We sold off family treasures to pay our school taxes. When will you begin to protect our children?

I’m an employment lawyer and I’ve never seen a raise like this with benefits like this. Why the rush and lack of transparency? There is no hurry. There are still years to go in Dr. L’s contract.

When I tell people from other places that I’m from Central Bucks, they say, “Oh. I’m so sorry.”

We did not write these notes. They come directly from CBSD School Board Brief. At the June 13, 2023 School Board Meeting, the Central Bucks Board of School Directors:

Announced that the Board met in Executive Session on June 13, 2023 regarding Act 44 Safety and Security and that the Board met for an Information Session on May 18, 2023 regarding staffing.

Approved the minutes of the May 9, 2023 School Board Meeting.

Heard Superintendent's Report

1. Work-Based Learning: Community Partners Appreciation

Superintendent Lucabaugh aired a video highlighting the district's Work-Based Learning Program

and recognized local businesses that work with this program to ensure its success. To view the

Work-Based Learning: Community Partners Appreciation presentation, please refer to

the Presentations at School Board Meetings section of the

website, https://www.cbsd.org/Page/43953

2. CB West Baseball Team: PIAA State Playoffs

The 2023 Bucks set a new standard for CB West Baseball and qualified for the playoffs, earning the

#14 seed. Playing baseball in June for the first time ever, the Bucks took on Wilson West Lawn in

the opening round of states and won 3-0 for their first ever state playoff victory behind Julio

Ermigiotti’s perfect game. The Bucks’ ride ended in the state quarterfinals. Superintendent

Lucabaugh and the Board of School Directors recognized team members and coaches. Team

members: Quinn Illig, Sam Greer, Aaron Steiner, Jack Hogenauer, Tyler Thomas, Duke

Psoras, Jacob Greer, Will Hogenauer, Colin McKenna, Michael Koldhoff, Sohum Desai, Alex

Jenkinson, Cayden Wertz, Max Slaymaker, Jonathan Mason, Matt Carr, Bill Zentmayer, Kevin

Bukowski, Julio Ermigiotti, Max McGlone, Noah Gerstein, Carter Benson, Jack Sawyer, Julian

Kim, Gavin Shiffler, Alex Valdes, Harrison Yim, and Luke Birkhead. Team coaches: Bill Evans, Matt

McCarthy, Evan Grzymkowski, Kevin McLaughlin, Will Matteson, Zach Sibel, Greg Trimbur, Ryan

Hanula, Gabe Hurtado, and Brian Weaver

3. E-Sports State Individual Championship: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

Superintendent Lucabaugh and the Board of School Directors congratulated CB South

senior Nathan Cherny, who won the State Individual Championship in Super Smash Brothers

Ultimate. Nathan traveled to Pittsburgh to compete at Pittsburgh Technical College and his win

earned him a championship belt and $200.00 in scholarship money.

4. STEM Research Students

Superintendent Lucabaugh and the Board of School Directors recognized STEM Research

students. Adult sponsors Mark Hayden, Carrie Bannon, Judith Elinow, Diane Liddington,

and Robert Meletti were recognized and the following students were honored and

congratulated: Maryam Abdel-Azim, Dhaval Tantry, Amanda Chan, Jerry Cheng, Matthew Cherry,

Thomas Cherry, Aashish Cheruvu, Kiera Dozor, Emma Dunn, Ryan Fasti, Rory Gardner, Sydney

Groves, Arya Haridas, Cecelia Hayes, Vedanta Jain, Mackenzie Junkin, Jasmin Kainth, Clara Lee,

Sophia Leone, Karolina Luchko, Mason Matich, Sanjay Nair, Clare Rajapakse, Ranjit Rajapakse, Jack

Reilley, Benjamin Richlin, Saara Sheth, Aarav Shinde, Tamir Sklansky, Mason Smith, Riley Smith,

Rishi Raghav Suresh, Diya Thomas, Matthew Thomas, Parth Vaidyanath, Sehaj Verma, Kasey

Walker, Charley Wan, Lance Xu, and Rong Xu. To view the STEM Research Students presentation,

please refer to the Presentations at School Board Meetings section of the

website, https://www.cbsd.org/Page/43953

Heard Public Comment:

1. Dev Avadaria, CB student, spoke about Pride month, the Board's platform of bigotry, Policy 321,

book bans, harming LGBTQ youth, Democracy, fascism, harming minority groups, taxpayer money

sent to Duane Morris, and about speaking out against injustice.

2. Peder Cox of Doylestown Township yielded his speaking time to Joan Natoli.

3. Joan Natoli of Doylestown Township spoke about reports of bullying in our district that are being

addressed, a school board candidate who spoke about bullying at a School Board Meeting, and

that a documented pattern of bullying and lawsuits against the district should disqualify a person

from running for school board. Ms. Natoli spoke about policies that destroy Title IX, biological men

having no place in women's sports, and read aloud a Twitter post from a school board candidate's

wife.

4. Leslie Watson of Buckingham Township thanked the Board and staff for prioritizing the wellbeing of children over personal agendas and ideology. Ms. Watson spoke about the internal

investigative report regarding the ACLU complaint of bullying and harassment and about the

honorable actions of the Lenape Middle School principal. Ms. Watson spoke about activists, LGBTQ

bullying, hypocritical people, transgenderism, the Board majority and asked if School Director

Smith would still call the investigative report a sham if it had shown systemic bullying.

5. Anne Ferguson of Doylestown Township yielded her speaking time to Kathleen Cranmer.

6. Kathleen Cranmer of Doylestown Township spoke about faith, the Ten Commandments, taking

rights from other parents, book reviews, child abuse by clergy, Mr. Rinaldi's report, incivility at a

School Board Meeting, last May's Superintendent's Report, and the Superintendent not disputing

Mr. Rinaldi's report.

7. Kate Nazemi of Doylestown Township thanked her children's educators and spoke about book

challenges, our safe and accessible school libraries, librarians who connect students with the right

books at the right time, books that contain characters with whom students can relate, repealing

School Board Policy 109.2, and replacing Policy 109.2 with a standard library policy

recommendation.

8. Edward Mackouse of Buckingham Township spoke about the great teachers and school board in

our district. Mr. Mackouse spoke about sex and reasons to put off sex, transgender and gay

people, Moms4Liberty, our district being under attack by the ACLU, Gays Against Grooming,

women having the right to respect and safety in showers, and about men protecting women. Mr.

Mackouse spoke about the transgender medical industry, Catholic and private schools that didn't

shut down, confronting Nazis in Chicago, fascists, violence in public schools, vaccines, and honest

elections.

9. Mara Witsen of Chalfont Borough thanked Policy Chairperson Sciscio and spoke about

important changes to Policy 317.1. Ms. Witsen spoke about Mr. Ohrt sentencing, protecting

students, what the terms Nazism and Fascism really mean, usurping parental rights, women's

sports, a recently published Johns Hopkins LGBTQ Glossary, and thanked the Board for supporting

policies that don't feed into nonsense.

10. CJ Weintraub of Doylestown Township spoke about students living in fear, hearing queer

students share their experiences, feeling scared for the district, and the school board majority.

11. Donna Shannon of Doylestown Township spoke about a narrative that only LGBTQ members of

our community are bullied, policies that protect all, and litigious endeavors. Ms. Shannon spoke

about a student being told by a teacher that (s)he wouldn't receive a leadership role when the

student wanted to consult with parents before accepting the position.

12. Max Jin of Warrington Township yielded his speaking time to Edward Mackouse, listed #8 on

the sign-up sheet.

13. Daniel Grabianowski of Plumstead Township yielded his speaking time to Vonna DeArmond.

14. Vonna DeArmond of Plumstead Township spoke about the Aramark contract and improving the

quality of food in our schools. Ms. DeArmond read aloud part of School Board Policy 011. Ms.

DeArmond asked if School Director Smith was aware that she broke Policy 011 when she wrote a

letter to the Department of Education and asked if School Director Smith was choosing politics

over children. Ms. DeArmond thanked an earlier speaker who discussed a school board candidate,

bullying, Title IX, and males competing in women's sports. Ms. DeArmond spoke about someone

finding out who the members of the book challenge committee are and read aloud from Matthew

7:3-5.

Reviewed School Board Reports:

1) Curriculum Committee.

2) Finance and Facilities Committee.

3) Policy Committee.

4) Bucks County Intermediate Unit.

5) Middle Bucks Institute of Technology.

Approved Finance Department Items:

1) Financial Reports

2) Accounts Payable Check Disbursements in the amount of $6,098,321.06

3) Engagement of Wisler Pearlstine for Legal Services as an On-Needed Basis for the 2023-

2024 Fiscal Year in the amount of $8,000.00

4) STEAM Initiative with Flux Space in the amount of $16,000.00

5) Five-Year Contract with 911 Inform in the amount of $195,651.90

6) BCIU District Service Agreement for MTSS support in the amount of $39,593.76

7) Physician and dentist contract to support our students in the 2023-24 school year

8) Professional Development Summer Training Sessions in the amount of $6,450.00

9) EKOS Software for Fuel Management in the amount of $1,188.00

10) Stop Arm Enforcement Program with Bus Patrol America, LLC

11) Food Service Contract with Aramark

12) Amended 2023-2024 MBIT Budget

13) Staff Conferences and Workshops in the amount of $9,224.00

14) District's Share in the Cost for BCIU to Execute a Contract with Plymouth Environmental

Company, Inc. Regarding Structures on the Red Cedar Drive Properties in the amount of

$22,719.17

15) Three Act 1 resolutions for the Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024:

A. Resolution to levy taxes for school purposes for the year beginning July 1, 2023

B. Resolution on Homestead/Farmstead exemptions

C. Resolution approving the Final Budget amount of $388,307,314.00

16) Student Activity Reports

Approved Facilities Department Items:

1) Student Activity Reports

2) Contract with Edwards & Company for the Building Envelope Consultant. In the amount of

$94,650.00

3) Simon Butler Playground Review Professional Services Agreement

4) MOU with Bucks County for Alternate Summer Fueling Option

5) FMX Work Order, Scheduling, and Inventory System in the amount of $36,688.88

6) Access Security: Burglar, Fire, and Elevator Alarm Monitoring contract in the amount of

$31,920.00

Approved Special Education Department Items:

1) IEP Waiver Agreement (1).

2) IEP Waiver Agreement (2).

3) IEP Waiver Agreement (3).

4) Transportation Agreement in the amount of $9,000.00.

5) Settlement Agreement (1) in the amount of $5,000.00.

6) Settlement Agreement (2) in the amount of $261,315.00.

7) Settlement Agreement (3) in the amount of $82,500.00

Approved Student Services Department Items:

1) MOU with BCIU for Head Start Grantee/Pre-K Provider/Private Agency

2) 2023-2024 Technical Career Center Tuition Agreement for Student in the amount of $

9,815.00

Approved Curriculum Items:

1) Textbook Adoption: Precalculus and Honors Precalculus in the amount of $196,798.98.

2) Textbook Adoption: Statistics and Data Analysis in the amount of $50,519.00.

Approved Policy Items:

1) Moved to Table for First Read School Board Policies 011, 137, 137.2, 137.2, and 137.3.

2) Removed from Table and Approved School Board Policies 824, 626, 317.1, 304, and 249.

Approved Student Items-Field Trips:

1) Approval for CB East Football to travel to East Stroudsburg, PA.

2) Approval for CB East Cheerleading to travel to Beach Lake, PA.

3) Approval for CB East Choir to travel to Montreal, Canada.

4) Approval for CB West Choir, Orchestra, and Band to travel to Washington, DC.

Approved Human Resources Department Items:

1) Retirements, Resignations, and Terminations.

2) Leaves of Absence.

3) Appointments.

4) Assignment, Classification, and Status Changes.

5) New Position Approvals.

6) Activity EDRs.

7) Sabbaticals.

May 9, 2023: General Board Meeting

We began with a shout-out to teachers, in recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week. We watched a video of a number of students naming their favorite teachers and saying what they liked best about them. Dr. Lucabaugh said there are 1,412 teachers in our district. 1,244 of them have Master’s degrees: 88%. Of those, 751 have 30 additional graduate credits, or 60% of all our teachers. CB pays more money to those with Master’s degrees and up to 30 additional credits. They do not pay more for Ph.D.’s. We wonder if we would have a number of Doctorates if there were salary credits for them.

Board President Dana Hunter pleaded for civility and politeness.

Then we had public comment. A number of speakers objected to the special meeting of Thursday, April 20, at which one teacher was prosecuted by the law firm Duane Morris. They said that there were identifying circumstances in the report that violated student privacy, that personnel issues have never before been handled publicly, and that their allegations do not explain the toxic culture that fails to address bullying in our district as indicated by 6 other families’ complaints to the ACLU, the rise in bullying reported by students on the PAYS survey, and the students and parents from many other schools who have spoken about their bullying at school board meetings.

We also learned how to pronounce Lenape: le-NAH-py. Kind of like “karate.”

A number of speakers objected to their treatment on social media and their depiction as “right wing extremists” and other names. Several speakers called for the resignation of board member Karen Smith. Some thanked the board for what they saw as excellent service.

We would like to make a plea that people refrain from naming teachers in their public comment. No teacher can defend themselves in this forum. If a person wishes to complain about a teacher by name, the proper channel for that is to go first to the principal, then to the superintendent, then to the school board. If none of that works, the offended person can speak about it at public comment without naming the individual. This is common decency. You do not have a public pile-on at your job, broadcast to the entire community, from which you are barred from defending yourself. We don’t need to do this to teachers.

The actual business of the board went along without drama: agenda items voted on without conflict.

At the end of official business, Karen Smith read a statement. You can read it below. The school board majority make clear their displeasure with Mrs. Smith. Mr. Pepper, who called her a “psychopath” at the last meeting, stood by that epithet and doubled down on his condemnation of his colleague.

And that’s about it.

Mrs. Smith’s statement:

I am going to respond to public comment and the Duane Morris report where their representative  Michael Rinaldi, proceeded to further traumatize our LGBTQ students and one of our teachers, Andrew Burgess, and made several very inaccurate assumptions about me.

Here are my actual actions. During the spring and summer of 2022, this Board received notifications and letters from the ACLU, the Education Law Center, NAACP, and the PA School Library Association regarding changes to procedure and the proposed policies. These letters warned the district of potential legal action if we did not change course. 

From the Education Law Center, on May 19:

“ELC urges the School Board and the District to comply with their clear legal obligations under federal and state law, including the protections and rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and Title IX by ensuring that all schools and staff practices across the District protect and uphold the rights of LGBTQ students and members of the school district community, including the rights of teachers and staff who seek to enforce those rights.”

Again on June 14:

“We again urge the CBSD Board to reject policy 109.2 in its current form because the proposed revised policy continues to violate students first amendment rights”

These quotes are pulled from 4 page letters, cited with legal references.

I tried multiple times within the district to protect students from these discriminatory actions and to protect the district from eventual legal action, but the Board continued with their actions. My attempts are documented in emails and in comments in meetings.  I then moved up the chain of command and sent an email to Education Secretary Cardona. Nothing I said in the e-mail to the Department of Education was new or a surprise.  I received no response to this e-mail.  There is also no evidence my e-mail resulted in the OCR investigation. In fact, a simple review of the OCR website finds that the process for filing a complaint is lengthy and detailed and my email does not contain nearly the necessary information to merit as a complaint. Also, as I mentioned The ACLU and the Education Law Center had already been investigating the district for weeks at the time my email was sent.

Mr. Rinaldi showed none of this in his presentation.

I was never interviewed by Duane Morris, yet Mr. Rinaldi generally tried to characterize my actions as a reaction to losing votes. Rather, I had a responsibility as an elected official to pursue all avenues to protect students and taxpayer resources.

The district did not need to go down this path which has now cost taxpayers approximately one million dollars. After receiving the ACLU complaint, the district could have taken the steps suggested by the ACLU to improve the environment for LGBTQ and all students. Mr. Rinaldi insinuated that I did not wish to assist the students in the ACLU report because I voted against the hiring of Duane Morris. This is laughably false. I voted against hiring a vastly overpriced firm with an anti-LGBTQ history because all we needed to do was follow the steps outlined by the ACLU.

He also insinuated that I took these steps for “notoriety.” How someone can make such accusations against another person when you have never spoken with that person is beyond me. I will say this… I retired last summer to be able to spend more time on my farm and with my granddaughter. I spend most of my days in a barn shoveling manure. These are not the patterns of a person looking for attention.

The most egregious actions in this presentation, however, were against the very students they claimed to be protecting. The description of student actions released in the emails revealed student identities. When I interrupted the presentation to protest this, I was overruled. I offer my deepest apologies to these students who were the victims of this sham report.

It has also been stated I know the identities of the students in the report. I do not. 

As a member of the minority on this Board, I have been unable to add anything to the agenda. The actions for which we are being investigated can be fully attributed to the Board Majority. 

In closing, I will repeat that my actions were to fulfill my responsibility as an elected official to pursue all avenues to protect students and taxpayer resources. 

We did not summarize this month’s meeting. You can read the full board notes here from CB.

Highlights/lowlights:

Mrs. Hunter played a filthy, threatening voicemail left for her and pleaded for better behavior from all community members.

Our MBIT students have distinguished themselves.

Dr. L showed a piece called “The Portrait of a Graduate”

Public comment: 17 on the side of educational freedom and tolerance, 8 on the side of book elimination and crack-downs

A personal appearance by famed author Laurie Halse Anderson asking that CB quit attacking kids’ freedom to read (read the article)

A letter to CB from famed author Jodi Picoult asking the same

One student advocated for updates to existing policies that cover the reporting process of educator misconduct and teacher/student relationships, to reduce the risk of sexual abuse against children. One suggestion is as simple as adding the PA State Child Line to the policy. (This was met with unusual resistance in the Policy meeting on Wednesday night. Policy Chair Lisa Sciscio committed to following up with Solicitor Garton about adding the phone number to the policy.)

One speaker evinced a fondness for the term “wanker”, Brit slang for masturbation. He did his best to offend and sow discord, but it’s not worth our effort to give his performance anymore thought

Our school board has voted to eliminate advocating for public schools from their job description

About 30 people waited outside in the cold before there was enough room to accommodate them in the meeting (this was because of a good thing: several MBIT students and their families filled the room to receive well deserved recognition.) However, in a district that services close to 18,000 students, a board room who’s max capacity is something around 125 people seems woefully inadequate. Some even wonder if this violates the Sunshine Act that requires public agencies to conduct agency business in meetings that the public can attend, participate and comment before the agency takes action.  

An angry man who held up posters with images from Gender Queer and accused the 3 minority school board members of felony distribution of pornography had a gun concealed on his person, which he had brought into the meeting. Security and the police confronted the man outside in the parking lot.

The tone seems to be growing angrier. There is less to rebut than last time because so much of the vitriol boils down to a small number of easily refuted talking points, such as:

A basic confusion about whether nudity or depictions of sexual acts are in and of themselves pornographic. They are not.

A reasonable working definition: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. 

The Miller test, also called the three-prong obscenity test, is the United States Supreme Court's test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited.

The Miller test was developed in the 1973 case Miller v. California It has three parts:

Whether "the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,

Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law,

Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

The work is considered obscene only if all three conditions are satisfied.

In our school libraries we have books that inform, that warn, that explore the feelings around difficult issues, that help kids to understand the world in which they live. A number of speakers disputed this and held up images to bolster their points, as if taking words or images out of context might prove anything. 

They never addressed the fact that any parent has the right at any time to restrict any book from their own child.

Another talking point we’re hearing could be summed up as “CB: love it or leave it.” Evidently the proponents of the board majority feel sensitive about the negative publicity and would like very much for us to sing CB’s praises—and Dr. L, ever in tune with the nuances of public opinion, is glad to oblige with his new, hard-hitting series.

Here is what the Board 6 voted to remove from Policy 011:

Which is shocking, when you stop to think about it. While the Board 3 objected, pointed out that the policy did no harm, that it informed their values, that it guided the whole board’s goals, that it aligned with PSBA standards, their arguments fell on closed ears. They were told it’s a “feel- good” policy, as if that’s a bad thing? As if naming our aspirations has no value? And that it wasn’t necessary.

So let March 14, 2023, Pi Day, go down as the day that our board 6 took a stand against public schools.

Then there was the gun. Yes, someone came armed to the meeting. A security guard and a policeman approached him in the parking lot after the meeting. He was informed this was a misdemeanor and he must not bring weapons into school board meetings. It should go without saying that this person should not be allowed to attend another school board meeting.

So we began with ugly behavior in the inexcusable voicemail and we ended with ugly behavior in the carrying of weapons.

AFIE stands squarely against ugliness. We condemn name-calling, denigrating women by slurs on their anatomy, escalating the sense of fear by bringing firearms to a public forum, and all forms of intimidation, vulgarity, and low behavior.

We believe that in a fair debate on policy based on truth and research, our positions are correct. We stand on solid ground and will not stoop to the mire.

We had 8 speakers last week in favor of Policies 109 (library) and 321 (“balance and neutrality” in classrooms) and 22 against them.

Some of the points the 8 made:

It’s a scientific fact that there are 2 genders, male and female

We need to protect kids against transitioning because some regret it

There is no place for sexual and political material in our schools

There is pornography in our libraries

The history of the Pride flag reveals its political nature

The democrat-run media is using and manipulating the LGBTQ community

We don’t want our kids preyed upon by adults

There has been a purposeful onslaught of lies

Classrooms in our district have propaganda all over the walls

Policy 321 will lead to rapport between teachers and students

The Anti-Defamation League is a front for organized crime

Many books in CB’s libraries have no educational value and violate the law

It is crucially important to note that those 8 people have not coordinated their speeches and although they are united in their support of what the School Board 6 have done, they are not speaking with the same voice and they do not all share the same opinion.

Neither side is a monolith.

Nevertheless, we would like to address some of these points.

1. The books in our school libraries were chosen by librarians, often in response to requests from kids, and they are age-appropriate for our students.

According to the Center for Disease Control, approximately 55% of teenagers have had sex by the time they are 18 years old. Sex is an appropriate topic for our teenagers to read about. Even those who are not sexually active may have questions about sexuality or wish to know more. Books are the safest place for kids to satisfy their curiosity about sexual matters.

We can understand why many adults wish teenagers would not have sex. We assure those people that every hour a kid spends reading, even if about sex, is an hour they weren’t having it.

Furthermore, those books are available to kids but not one of them is assigned to a kid. Kids are free to choose the books they wish to check out of their school libraries and no one coerces or even encourages them to read what they find offensive.

Moreover, parents always have the right to restrict what books are available to their own child. Easily, at any time, with zero publicity. You can already control what your kid checks out. So this is really about controlling what other people’s kids read—and we would like to know how that contributes to liberty?

2. It appears that some people in our community feel that reading about sex leads kids toward sex, that it “sexualizes” the child or young adult. One person objected strenuously to a book that contained reference to a sexual predator.

Again, we understand that this is a terribly upsetting topic—but who is better equipped to recognize and prevent predation: a kid who has never heard of it? Or a kid who read a book about it?

We ALL want our kids to grow up in a healthy, happy, appropriate way. Nobody wants kids to be vulnerable to predation. We contend that an age-appropriately informed child is far, far more likely to sense when someone is taking an unhealthy interest in them and tell a parent or other trusted adult than a child who is kept in the dark.

We reiterate: books in the library are on offer, not required. A child who is not ready to learn of such things need not learn of them.

3. We are not qualified to weigh in on chromosomal variations from XX and XY, nor on cultural constructions of gender. The school doesn’t need to know anything about the science or history of gender. All the school needs to do is make sure that all kids, whatever they’re going through, are supported and welcomed. CBSD knows how to do this. They just won’t.

The fact that some people transition and later regret it is irrelevant to Central Bucks School District. People do a lot of things they later regret: get tattoos; marry the wrong person; have a child or not have a child at what later turns out to be a difficult time. This is nobody’s business but the person who makes the decisions and the people who love that person.

The school’s job is to create conditions under which every single kid can learn. That is why we must make transitioning kids welcome in school.

4. There is not propaganda all over the walls of our schools. On Back To School Night, peek in the classroom doors. Go find out for yourself.

As for teachers sharing their political viewpoints, first of all, this is ineffective. Teachers share a lot of things, like when to use the subjunctive, that kids refuse to learn. The fear that teachers have some kind of indoctrination superpower, or would use it even if they had it, is overblown.

Does that mean no teacher ever oversteps the proper line between encouraging debate and using their privileged position to proclaim their beliefs? No. Teachers are human and they make mistakes, especially about things that touch their hearts. But the proper way to deal with this is on a case by case basis. Administrators talk to teachers all the time to guide them, to inform them, to speak to them about complaints. It has been ever thus. Only recently has our school board made a cause celebrate out of castigating teachers for occasional mistakes.

5. About misinformation and lies: perception plays a huge role here. Where some of the 8 see propaganda everywhere, the teachers in the room shook their heads in puzzlement. Where some of the 8 see pornography, many of the parents in the room saw books they themselves read with interest and without harm as teenagers. When one speaker claimed that no books had been banned, the other side said to themselves, “Oh but they soon will be.” When one person said the books were challenged by parents, the other side said, “Nope. That came from the school board, against their own policies.”

The point is not to say that anyone was lying or deliberately misinforming. We’re all filling in the blanks with ideas that fit our comprehension. Seeing how the facts we have align with the views we hold is not lying, it’s human fallibility—and both sides are doing it.

And now a word about tone. Many of our 8 speakers referenced above expressed outrage at the nasty tone the 22 speakers used toward the board 6 and those who support them. One speaker used an analogy of red ants and black ants in a jar, coexisting without problems, until someone comes along and shakes the jar and the stress and terror turn the ants against one another. But the enemy is not each other. The enemy is the person shaking the jar.

Yes! Agreed. But in that case, neither red nor black (blue?) ants are doing any of the shaking. We are all members of the community. Both sides have called the other side names. Both sides have hurled accusations. If you think one side is worse than the other, think again. Fascist, racist, white supremacist, homophobe vs. groomer, pedophile, indoctrinator, pornographer. Neither side here has restricted itself to polite terms and both sides (one imagines) would read those names and think, “Yeah, but those are accurate about them.”

So what are we to do?  

Without common ground and the benefit of the doubt, we can do nothing. We must recognize that we all want our kids to thrive and grow, to learn in school, to have good experiences in school, to love their teachers and feel valued and safe in their classrooms, to find appropriate challenge and abundant support for their learning and development as human beings.

We at AFIE express our support for each other’s kids.  All the kids.  ALL THE KIDS.  No exceptions.

Well, if you missed the school board meeting on Tuesday, January 10, you missed a doozy.

During public comment, we counted eleven speakers in favor of policy 321 and nineteen opposed. 

Those in favor believe firmly that some teachers are using their classrooms as incubators of indoctrination.  They believe that policy 321 will provide a necessary check on teachers lobbying kids in favor of their own political biases. Details were sparse. There were a small number of anecdotal accounts of teachers addressing issues that parents found problematic. No smoking guns. Several people mentioned “misinformation” repeated again and again, without specifics. There was a lot of negativity about the ACLU, some negativity about the teachers’ union, some defense of the January 6 rioters who were said to be largely peaceful, and many thanks for what the majority on the school board has done and is doing. Plus an appeal to put our faith in Jesus.

Those opposed to policy 321 spoke about:

• The lack of evidence that teachers are indoctrinating kids and the contempt that word expresses toward our professional staff

• The origin of the policy, clearly rooted in a desire to ban Pride Flags

• Testimonies from many students about the efficacy of Pride Flags

• Objections about the lack of definition of terms in the policy leading to confusion and potentially uneven enforcement

• The likelihood that teachers will self-censor and refuse to engage with students’ difficult questions

• The fact that Central Bucks is losing prestige and home-buyers are looking elsewhere

• The embarrassment that graduates and residents experience as a result of our district’s rightward lurch

• The large amounts of money paid to lawyers and the PR firm by the district to clean up messes caused by their policies

• And above all, the impact on our already vulnerable students when six people ban expressions of support for their safety 

One of the most interesting speeches of the evening came from Dr. Talya Zemach-Bersin, Lecturer in Education Studies, Senior Capstone Coordinator at Yale University and 2003 graduate of C.B. West. You can read the full text of her remarks here. The gist of it is that those who oppose the visibility of LGBTQ kids and symbols that include them, and who hearken back to a more traditional time with more rigid gender roles, are living in a past that will never return. An excerpt:

“There's a wonderful book by a religious studies professor called WHY LIBERALS WIN THE CULTURE WARS (EVEN WHEN THEY LOSE ELECTIONS). The thesis of this book is simple: conservatives might succeed in using culture wars wedge issues to rally their base and win elections, but they always lose the culture wars. Why? The answer is stunning: BECAUSE THEY'VE ALREADY LOST. That's right. By the time conservative culture warriors, like many of you here today, pick up an issue, it's already a lost cause. You are fighting for a world that is gone. You are fighting for a world that is already lost. You are fighting, in fact, because you know that what you were accustomed to (in this case, a society that commits to the project of failing to provide an inclusive environment for LGBTQ people) is already yesterday's news. And that's the message I want to share with everyone here today: You cannot turn back the clock.”

Through this lens, what happened after public comment becomes clear. 

Dr. Dell’Angelo spoke against the policy and cited copious research to insist that symbols of inclusion such as Pride Flags do help marginalized students and do no harm to others. She spoke of the need for teacher autonomy. She spoke at length of our shared goals of creating schools that are places of “belonging and dignity” for all our students. She cited the phrase “connection before content” that she had seen in an elementary school and she spoke to the need of all students to see themselves reflected in positive ways in books and curricular materials.

Mrs. Smith summarized the timeline of policy 321, emphasizing its origin in the exclusion of Pride Flags and the ways in which it was re-written on the fly without due consideration.

Dr. Mahmoud opposed policy 321 and mentioned our staffing shortages, suggesting that CB is becoming an undesirable place to work.

Mrs. Collopy made the point that in her opinion, the policy will not affect holiday celebrations.

Mrs. Vlasblom said the policy will not prohibit class discussions and that it does not address student speech. She voiced her support for students posing questions and teachers responding to those freely. She said that she wished it were not necessary to write policy, but that some situations arise when it becomes necessary and although most of our teachers do not indoctrinate, still, we need the policy to ensure that neutral stance and that there is harm when misinformation is repeated over and over (echoing a number of public commenters).

Then Mrs. Cannon began a lengthy speech. She began by saying that it is not her “nature to grandstand,” but she had been the target of a great deal of bullying and harassment and she was outraged and insulted that anyone would suggest she does not sympathize with kids who feel different and targeted for that difference. She expressed her strong support for 321 and cited three examples of teacher behavior we need to prevent: teachers offering extra credit for political activity; a teacher refusing to say the former president’s name and who would only refer to him as “45”; and a student who held up a hero to be told in an uproar of the class that that person only did what he did because of white male privilege, which was allowed to go unchallenged by the teacher. She accused the three minority board members of breaking rules of comportment and appropriateness and embarked on a lengthy personal attack on Dr. Dell’Angelo, citing passages of articles Dr. D’A had written to support her allegation that she had politicized the issue. She concluded by saying, “We’ve lost our sense of humanity.”

Mrs. Sciscio contrasted her behavior on Friday night with Dr. Dell’Angelo’s, saying that while Dr. D’A was speaking about the dangers of the January 6 insurrection, Mrs. S was grocery shopping and then at home with her family, and that on Sunday, she prayed for the three minority board members, that they realize the harm they are doing to our children and see the error of their ways. She concluded, “You are the reason we need 321.”

The vote was called. The 6 voted to pass the policy. The 3 voted against it.

And that’s the summary.

You can read commentary on our blog.

Continued contempt, distraction and politicization of the ACLU discrimination complaint and Dept. of Ed investigation

The majority 6 continue to deny the legitimacy of the discrimination complaint filed by the ACLU on behalf of 7 families while intentionally spreading misinformation about allegations of discrimination. On November 15, the Board 6 voted to use taxpayer funds to further their political stunts by hiring former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain and former federal prosecutor Michael Rinaldi of the Duane Morris law firm to conduct an investigation of the discrimination complaint and recent CB polices. Given the known anti-LGBTQ+ bias of this legal team (Bill McSwain called a West Chester school’s Gender-Sexuality Alliance club ‘leftist political indoctrination’) it’s clear that student welfare, freedom of expression, trust in teachers, and teacher autonomy continue to be at high risk.

We recommend three pro-education and taxpayer free steps that Administration and the Board 6 can immediately take to create better, safer schools and happier, thriving kids:

End all anti-education, anti-student actions taken since January 2022.

• Restore safe learning environments, so all students have the opportunity to belong and thrive

• Rescind library and curriculum policies designed to remove LGBTQ+ themed books and learning resources

• Trust educators to facilitate critical lessons and important discussions on difficult topics, such as political, historical, and contemporary issues essential to learning and critical thinking

• Respect and protect each student’s right to be called their affirming name and pronouns

• Teach age appropriate human development and sex education in our schools

• Allow opportunities for all students to participate in school activities inclusively and safely

• Foster and uphold strong public education as a fundamental principle of our democracy where the common good is found through all of us

Focus on the kids. You know who they are. Support them. Work with the schools named in the complaint and make the institutional changes you know are needed. Reach out to the families and children who continue to struggle. Enough time has been wasted. The ACLU is not the issue nor the enemy. Stop using them as a political wedge to distract from the very serious issues of bullying and harassment that must be fixed.

Get ahead of the Department of Education investigation by making the changes that will ensure a safe and supportive learning environment. There’s nothing stopping CB from being proactive, avoiding a prolonged investigation, and a ruined reputation. All CB needs to do is implement these DOE recommended policies and practices immediately. Of note: Month after month, parents, students, and teachers have asked CB to take these steps, practices very many school districts nationwide successfully have in place. Why is CB refusing?

CB ignores key findings in the 2021 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) on bullying

Every two years, the Commonwealth conducts a survey (PAYS) of school students in the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades to learn about behavior, attitudes, and knowledge concerning bullying, alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and violence. The information gathered is used to inform school leaders where prevention resources will likely have the greatest impact. 

Naturally, any analysis of the data collected on bullying–a widely known problem in schools—would look at areas of increase or decrease, as this information is paramount to determining the anti-bullying strategies and practices needed.  

During the November 11 meeting, Alyssa Marton, Director of Pupil Services, presented an overview and analysis of the PAYS survey results. During her presentation, the public was led to believe that overall bullying had decreased, and that when it was an issue, it was due to factors related to a student’s size, looks, and social standing.

It was not until an illuminating public comment by Dr. Anusha Viswanathan, a CB parent, that we learned that systematically the highest increases in bullying in CBSD in 2021 occurred due to gender and sexual orientations, facts that were entirely left out of CB’s public report. 

Dr. Anusha Viswanathan revealed that in 2021, there was a 73-116% increase in bullying related to gender, and a 80-122% increase in bullying due to sexual orientation, compared to prior years of this survey. In third place, an increase of 47% due to disability. (See pages 55 & 56 of the PAYS report.) 

Not only were these concerning statistics left out of CB’s reported areas of concern, their analysis goes further to mislead the public by falsely suggesting that bullying at CB has decreased when comparing CB to the state statistics. However, if the goal of PAYS is to identify district specific areas of risk, so that protective and preventative measures can be taken in a specific school district, how is state information relevant and why exclude all of the pertinent data? 

Sadly, the fact that this particular analysis downplays bullying by excluding significant increases in bullying of LGBTQ+ kids’ and kids with disabilities is likely because the district does not want to address them.

Highlighting the bullying due to a student’s size, the way they look, and/or social standing without mentioning gender, sexual orientation, and disability is seemingly a purposeful omission. This, along with the Department of Education’s investigation of discrimination, coupled hundreds of ignored pleas from students, families, and teachers to properly address bullying, is unbelievably sad, alarming, and revealing. 

Listen to Anusha’s full comment here at minute 1:41.

Policy 321 is on hold for now. It will likely return.

Policy 321, which calls upon teachers to quit “indoctrinating” students and “coercing” them to nefarious points of view and also codifies the banning of Pride flags and any other symbols of “politicization”, was taken off the agenda so it could be reviewed by the new legal team, who’s lead attorney, Bill McSwain is on record for calling a GSA club ‘leftist political indoctrination.’

It’s not hard to speculate where his analysis will lead them. We expect this egregious policy to be back on the agenda and possibly up for a vote as soon as Dec. 5. You can learn more about why we never want to see this anti-education policy in our kids’ classrooms here.

Revisions to School Board Director voting regions

PA state code requires that the population in each of our 9 regions in the district are “nearly as equal as possible and compatible with the boundaries of election districts.” As such, after CBSD solicitor Garton and Superintendent Lucabaugh reviewed the population report and current configurations of the regions, and made recommendations to even the regions out. You can read Mr. Garton’s letter here. You can read CB’s recommendations here.

According to analysis in the Bucks County Courier Times, with this plan, that passed, “voters who last cast a ballot for Central Bucks school board members in 2019 might have to wait two more years before they can vote again under a proposed redistricting plan approved last week. Further it would shift “12 voting precincts in six of Central Bucks’ nine regions — five of those regions include school board seats up for election in 2023. The proposal would move thousands of voters, due to head to the polls in 2023, to a region that doesn't elect a member until 2025.”

During public comment, Tracy Suits, a former school board member shared a plan that she says would move fewer voters, more-evenly distribute them among the districts and still allow everyone to vote on their regular schedule. Specifically, Tracy’s counterproposal addresses a concern that New Britian Boro and Doylestown Township 5 would be moved from regions that would vote in 2023 to regions that would not vote until 2025, which disengages a large number of residents. Additionally, Suits states that many of the neighborhoods and polling sites will be broken up into different regions, which literally means your neighbor 3 doors down could have a different school board representative. You can read more about Tracy’s counterproposal here, and listen to it here at minute 1:41. Additionally, Dr. Dell’Angelo is also advocating for consideration of other plans, including one of her own.

Clearly, there are multiple options available to achieve a more equitable balance in each of the 9 regions, while also not disenfranchising thousands of voters. We hope the board will consider multiple options before submitting the final plan to the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County for Court approval.

Pre-Meeting

A large group of people wearing Moms For Liberty shirts conducted a prayer service in the hallway prior to the meeting’s commencement.

Public Comment

Parents, teachers, students, and therapists shared numerous stories and perspectives of the ways in which the Board majority’s discriminatory policies against the LGBTQ community have impacted the climate at CBSD. Several speakers also mentioned the formal complaint that the ACLU filed against the district for the aforementioned policies. One speaker shared similar legal concerns from the Education Law Center in Philadelphia.

Of note were the powerful testimonies by teachers who are uncomfortable enforcing discriminatory policies, but fear repercussions from the administration. Also notable were comments by therapists addressing the harm that could be done to children if their sexuality or gender identity is outed to their parents without the student’s permission. One therapist added that counselors could potentially lose their licenses for following the district’s proposed discriminatory policies.

A few parents from the Moms For Liberty group thanked the Board for not allowing students to use alternative names in school without parental approval. Other parents in the MFL group said that they felt like Pride Flags in the classroom would be discriminatory towards straight, cisgender, or religious students. Some also made light of the ACLU’s complaint by attempting to discredit the organization.

Superintendent’s Address

Dr. Lucabaugh spoke about the listening tour he conducted at the schools in the district where he spoke to about 10% of the student population. He made no mention of particular issues or possible resolutions.

Policy 321: Political, Sociopolitical, and other related Communications Activities

Dr. Mahmud explained that she would not vote for the policy because it would restrict teachers’ ability to teach and harm the mental health of already vulnerable students.

Mrs. Smith had procedural concerns about the policy. She stated that the draft presented to the public at the last meeting was considerably different than the one that the board would be voting on. She noted that this change is in violation of the spirit of the Sunshine Act. Mrs. Smith also objected to the content of the policy, noting the harm of “sterilizing” our schools by removing anything that could be construed as political. Additionally, Mrs. Smith objected to the language of the policy, citing words such as “indoctrinate” and “coerce” which were used to describe potential staff behavior.

Dr. Dell’Angelo noted that the policy, as it stands, is far too vague, allowing for multiple interpretations and misunderstandings. She also remarked that there is no data showing that a policy such as this is necessary and that passing it will put unnecessary pressure on teachers and limit their ability to teach effectively.

Despite the objections from Dr. Dell’Angelo, Dr. Mahmud, and Mrs. Smith, the Board approved Policy 321 for first reading. The only comment from the Board majority was by Mrs. Vlasblom who remarked that an unnamed board member implied they might approve the policy if the word “neutrality” was taken out of it. However, since the unnamed Board Member no longer supports the policy, Mrs. Vlasblom requested the word be put back in.

In a 6 to 3 vote, the Board approved Policy 321 for first reading and will be up for a final vote on November 15.

Notable Public Comment:

A group of parents and community members representing Desis of Doylestown (a South Asian cultural organization), PFLAG, and CAIR Philadelphia (a civil rights advocacy group for American Muslims) presented compelling statements and concerns regarding Director Lisa Sciscio’s public support of Kathy Barnette, a candidate widely known for her bigoted remarks regarding Muslims and members of the LGBTQ+ community. As Ms. Sciscio had not responded to their concerns via email, and given that she is the Chairman of the Curriculum Committee these parents in the CB community questioned how these views would not affect curriculum policies for all students, especially in light of book bans and removal of pride flags in CB. Unfortunately, despite these powerful public comments, the Desi and LGBTQ+ communities’ concerns remained unaddressed and unrecognized by Ms. Sciscio or the remainder of the board majority publicly.

A public commenter made unfounded allegations specifically accusing two teachers of posting inappropriate content on their teachers pages, saying they were “indoctrinating,” their students. As we learned five days letter, the commenter was referring to a district-wide online resource that was unintentionally posted on Canvas, one that students were never able to access. Why this parent choose to name two specific teachers regarding a district wide subscription is far from clear. However, within 24 hours of this public comment occurring, a new policy (see Policy 321 below) was presented for table read, specifically using the charged words “indoctrination” and “coercion” in relation to CB teachers.

Sharon Collopy questioned the fiscal responsibility of an AccuWeather subscription by the district, which amounted to around $4,000. However, she did not raise similar concerns when the board majority voted to hire a Public Relations firm at the cost of at least $15,000/PER MONTH.

One commenter made a disparaging and homophobic remark that were, once again, left unaddressed by leadership.

That same commenter also shared misinformation about masks and Covid. Shortly after, the Board 6 voted to remove whatever was left of the district’s health and safety plan.

Policies 105.2 and 106 Passed

Policy 105.2 Exemption from Instruction: Parents and guardians have the right to have their children excused from specific instruction based on religious beliefs. The prior policy stated that “it shall not be the responsibility of the district or any of its employees” to make sure students are excused. Now, the policy states that “the district will work with the parents/guardians to ensure the request is honored.” Dr. Tabitha Dell’Angelo asked what would happen to students who were excused from specific instruction, but this was not further clarified during the meeting.

Policy 106 Guides for Planned Instruction: Requires guides to be prepared for all planned instruction by teachers.