Editor's Note: This op-ed has been updated to reflect that the youngest a student representative to the school board could be is age 14 since the student must be of high school age.
Last month, the new Democrat-controlled Central Bucks School Board had its first policy meeting. If you are a resident here, you should be very concerned.
During the Democratic-run boards’ first policy meeting it decided to halt Policy 321. This policy keeps politics out of classrooms. So now a teacher is free to hang up a Palestinian flag or a Trump flag. This is terrifying given the amount of antisemitism that is in our area. And our new board just invited it into classrooms. As a Jewish person, I find this appalling.
Secondly, the new board wants biological boys to be able to play in girls’ sports. It (halted Policy 123.3, which restricted transgender girls from participating in sports aligned with their gender identities) because too many residents were upset and it wanted to wait for further clarification from the PIAA.
The PIAA doesn’t set rules. It allows for each school to set a policy. This is exactly what it did with masks during COVID. If any of the new school board representatives were paying attention, they would understand how the PIAA operates.
This is exactly why our previous board created a policy (123.3) to protect girls’ sports.
Girls all over Pennsylvania are in trouble if the new board allows biological males to play in female sports and use their locker rooms. We are basically the largest suburban district. Other school districts will model us.
This isn’t going away either. Parents with biological girls need to make sure their girls are protected. Looking back to Karen Smith’s previous votes, I have no faith this board will help girls.
The PA Democrats funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars and these elected candidates have an agenda to follow.
The board also halted policies 109.1 and 109.2 which ensure children only have access to age appropriate material in the libraries.
Lastly, the board will vote on allowing student representatives to have a say on the board. So if you ever wanted your 14-year-old to help create board policies for a school district with a $360 million budget, this is your chance.
Stay tuned for details, Central Bucks residents. These representatives were highly endorsed by Sen. Santarsiero. Gov. Shapiro attended their victory party. They are a reflection of their beliefs. Remember that going forward.
Jamie Walker lives in Chalfont.
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