DV Journal

Former Great Valley School District School Board President Bruce Chambers sent this to the current GVSB:

INCOMPETENCE:  The Tik Tok attack at the Middle School revealed the incompetence of the GVSD Administration and the School Board:

• The attack came to light at the Middle School in Feb/March 2024 and that is when Principal Edward Souders advised parents of Middle School children of the problem.  He provided little information to the parents.  The general public and taxpayers were not told about this very significant problem and the School Board has been silent.
• In July 2024, four months later, the public found out about the attack, not from the administration or the school board, but from a very detailed New York Times article which spread quickly through our community.
• Once the New York Times article came out and there was an uproar. Superintendent Daniel Goffredo  Ed.D. suddenly woke up and addressed the issue by posting a letter on the GVSD website and holding a press conference, four months after the attack was revealed.
• Besides the grossly unfair attack on teachers, our community has now been tarnished by the incident and we appear to the world as incompetent and helpless with no leadership.  To put it bluntly, GVSD appears to be totally incompetent.  There is no excuse for this.  We deserve better for the $25,000 we spend per student.

HYPOCRISY:  The Tik Tok attack at the Middle School also revealed the gross hypocrisy of the GVSD Administration and the School Board.

• The untimely and inadequate letters from Souders and Goffredo appealed to the parents as being “partners” with the School District in the education of their kids.  Souders and Goffredo used the following phrases which sound just wonderful:
  • They looked to the parents as “partners in your child’s education”
  • They “sincerely appreciate your ongoing cooperation and partnership”
  • They want to be “addressing it together” with the parents.
  • They state “our greatest asset is for collaboration between home and school”
  • They “have always valued your partnership and will continue to do so as we move ahead”

• Their desire for a “partnership” with parents sounds great during a crisis.  However, their own policies and actions reveal that they don’t view parents as partners and really don’t value them at all.  The following is the reality:
  • Middle School counselors have met with students in secret if they display gender expansive behavior.  The counselors don’t tell the parents about the meeting and then they direct the teachers to address these students by the student’s preferred name and pronoun.  The teachers are also told they can’t tell the parents about it.  Does hiding information and deceit sound like there is a partnership with the parents?
  • GVSD Board Policy 103.3 states that:
    • District employees will not disclose information to the parents that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender expansive behavior.
    • When contacting the parents of a transgender or gender expansive student, District employees will only use the student’s legal name and refrain from using pronouns.  (This is done to hide information from the parents)
    • Does hiding information and deceit sound like there is a partnership with the parents?
  • When the transgender policies were questioned by the public at a School Board meeting, they were accused by the School Board of describing transgender students as being violent.  However, that was never stated by the public, and when that statement by the School Board was challenged by a taxpayer, the board vice president laughed at the speaker.
    • Does belittling taxpayers and dismissing their concerns with laughter sound like the Board desires partnership?
  • The hypocrisy of the district and the board is absolutely breathtaking.

The District and School Board hide information from the parents, deceive them, and show no respect.  So why is anyone surprised that the middle school kids show no respect for teachers, deceive them and the public, and hide behind TiKTok?  They are just following the example set by the administration and school board.

This has been a terrible experience for the teachers, but the incompetence and hypocrisy of the administration and the school board should not be overlooked.  The school board needs to do it’s job of holding the administration and themselves accountable for this tragedy and for the way they handled it.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal