(This article first appeared in Broad & Liberty)
United States Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum earlier this month with the subject, “Upholding constitutional rights and parental authority in America’s education system.” She sent the document to all United States Attorneys in the country, telling them that “parents have the right and the responsibility to speak out in defense of their children.”
Bondi directed “the Civil Rights Division to be alert to violations of parental rights and First Amendment liberties in educational settings” and for the “U.S. Attorneys to work with federal, state, and local partners to identify and respond to credible threats against parents and violations of their federal rights.”
Just eight days after the memorandum was issued, the U.S. Department of Justice contacted a local father regarding alleged violations of his First Amendment and due process rights by the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District.
According to the letter, dated September 16, 2025, Edward R. Martin, Jr., appointed by President Trump to serve as the Director of the United States Department of Justice Weaponization Working Group, notified local parent Chad Williams about opening a new investigation regarding his allegations.
“We are deeply concerned about parents and parent’s advocates who have been targeted by federal, state or local government or quasi-government officials or entities,” wrote Martin. “For these and other reasons, your situation has drawn my attention, and I respectfully request that you share all relevant documents with me directly. I recognize that you have made a ‘conspiracy against rights’ claim and I will review this as well as any other aspect that is appropriate.”
Williams provided a copy of the letter to Broad + Liberty.
Williams has filed multiple complaints against the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District both at the state and federal level, and its former superintendent, John Sanville.
Following years of delays in the investigations, Williams expressed optimism about the process moving forward.
“Public officials in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District – including the former superintendent, the solicitor and members of the school board – threatened my livelihood, defamed me to thousands of people in my community and to this day are abusing the power of their position to retaliate against me, all in an effort to bully me into silence and deny my constitutional and parental rights,” wrote Williams in response to a request for comment. “To make matters worse, they are using taxpayer dollars to do it and coordinating their efforts with state agencies and others in the process.
“I am fighting this battle as a husband and father, and I am not going to stop until I expose the lies, corruption, and unlawful conduct by public officials and ensure this will never happen to another family in Pennsylvania ever again. I look forward to a thorough investigation by the Department of Justice, a public report detailing the full extent of the unlawful activity in this case, and accountability for every public official who abused their authority.”
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District did not respond to two requests for comment.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office confirmed receipt of the Bondi memo.
When asked for a comment on the memo and if the office was considering any policy changes, Deputy Chief of Staff Ben Wren responded.
“Attorney General Dave Sunday is a proponent of parental rights in all aspects of their children’s lives,” wrote Wren. “General Sunday believes that parental involvement with their children is a fundamental building block of safe communities. We are reviewing Attorney General Bondi’s memo and look forward to finding appropriate ways to partner on empowering parents to better their children’s lives.”
In addition to the Department of Justice Weaponization Working Group, the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, is investigating multiple allegations asserted by Williams.
As a parent of school-aged children who attend the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, Williams began voicing concerns during Covid regarding the extended school closures and mandatory masking. He claims the district and the superintendent ignored him, despite numerous requests to meet.
The lack of transparency regarding the closures and forced masking pushed Williams to start looking at other issues in the school. He then discovered the district facilitated the administration of a third-party survey without parental consent. According to Williams, he asked to meet with members of the board and the superintendent, and they once again ignored his requests — denying his parental rights, First Amendment rights, and right to due process.
Based on the district’s actions, Williams lodged a number of complaints at the state level, including with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, but no agency investigated.
At that point, he started filing complaints at the federal level with the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. As a result, both the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice Weaponization Working Group are independently investigating not only the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District and its former superintendent, John Sanville, but also the state Department of Education based on Williams’s allegations.