Are you in the know?
For the last two years, the majority School Board Directors of the Central Bucks School Board have done the following:
1.
written and passed policies that will result in the banning of books from the school libraries. Most of the challenged books have LGBTQ+ characters and themes. At the board majority’s behest, this policy was reviewed and edited by a PA Family Institute attorney. PA Family Institute is a right-wing, Christian organization opposed to LGBTQ+ rights and designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
2.
written and passed policies banning symbols of support for LGBTQ+ students, including pride flags, in the name of “neutrality.” Enforcement of this vague policy resulted in the temporary removal of a quote from Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
3.
Hired a public relations firm for $15,000/month to spin their image in the public eye.
4.
In October 2022, the ACLU filed a complaint for creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ students. The Department of Education has picked up the complaint and is investigating the district.
5.
To oppose this complaint, the district hired the law firm Duane/Morris, specifically Attorney and former anti-LGBTQ+ gubernatorial candidate Bill McSwain to defend the district at the cost of $940/hour. The bill so far has been approximately $114,000.
6.
The majority severed ties with the Education Foundation CB Cares resulting in classroom initiatives that have been left unfunded as they struggle to grow a new Central Bucks Foundation.
7.
They chose Republican Judge and former board member Stephen Corr to be one of the chairpeople of this foundation. Soon after they hired Lisa Corr, Stephen Corr’s wife, to be the head of Human Resources at $150,000/year despite having no human resources experience.
8.
Most recently, the board majority attempted to gerrymander the district in a way to make a 7-2 Republican majority likely, based on Democrat/Republican registrations in the new regions they proposed. A large group of activists in the community, led in part by executive members of Neighbors United, obtained almost 3,700 signatures, petitioned the court, and stopped their proposed maps from being implemented in 2023.
9.
One of Republican candidates this year is Aarati Martino, wife of Paul Martino, the venture capitalist who spent over $700,000 of his own money to win school board races in 2021. Aarati Martino is the chairperson of the political action committee “Bucks Families for Leadership,” which fully funded the election of 3 of the board members who’ve spearheaded all the prior issues listed here.