The curtain has just risen on Act Two in a bitter battle between the newly-elected Central Bucks School Board versus the ACLU and its allies over issues involving gay and transgender students and allegations of discrimination and bullying.
In Act One, the school board initiated policies that I believe have scrutinized library books with graphic sexual themes and have demanded that classrooms be free of things like flags that support gay pride.
I have interviewed school board President Dana Hunter on multiple occasions and concluded that she and the majority are the victims of a false narrative that is not factually based. I believe the Central Bucks Board is targeted because it is one of Pennsylvania’s largest, most affluent, and well-educated. Its current school board reflects parents who believe the school district in the past had teachers and others who were pushing an agenda.
In Act Two the other night, during a special board meeting, the board unveiled a report from lawyers with the Duane Morris law firm that cost close to $1 million. The report essentially says the narrative that there is widespread bullying, harassment, and discrimination against LGBTQ students is a hoax. Furthermore, it contends the narrative that the school board has knowledge of this discrimination and has done nothing is a bigger hoax.
The report centers on district teacher Andrew Burgess. He was suspended not for not telling authorities about a child’s allegations of bullying in an attempt to create a narrative that the administration didn’t care about LGBTQ students. The lawyers seized the teacher’s laptop and found a dossier that showed the plan to involve two students in an effort to create a false narrative.
The report also focused on an email from Democratic board member Karen Smith to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and others asking for a federal investigation of the district around LGBTQ issues. That part of the report illustrates how explosive issues have become in the district.
Smith’s email also shows how hard some are working to drive the false narrative that this school board and administration have an agenda against gay students.
The situation has intensified because the lead lawyer was former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain, who, while running for governor last year, called out indoctrination in schools around LGBTQ issues. I have supported McSwain because he is a very buttoned-up public figure who confronts issues calmly and factually. However, the ACLU and other activists in this dispute see him as the personification of right-wing bias.
We are now into Act Three. This report outlines the hoax that was started in the school district in careful legal terms. But I don’t believe it will lessen tensions. Instead, I believe we will see the ACLU and others ignore the evidence presented and organize more protests and demonstrations. This drama is playing out in school districts across the country.
I also believe situations like this will be a significant factor in the big elections in 2024.
I plan to continue to focus on my radio show on this battle in this district. In her first interview on this report, Central Bucks School District President Dana Hunter will join me Friday on my TalkRadio 1210 WPHT.
You’ll get a sense of what has happened and what she expects to do next. Hunter has been very transparent and details in previous interviews, and I expect that to continue.
