DV Journal

Some of the 17,000 Bucks County voters who received a political mailer with lewd images were shocked. The real shock for others, however, was the fact that all the lewd content came from books until recently found in a local school library.

The Stop Extremism in Central Bucks Schools PAC sent the mailer and featured a warning on the envelope that it contained graphic images. That sexually explicit content came entirely from the pages of two books that previously were in the school libraries in the Central Bucks School District.

The mailer also names five Democratic candidates for school board who oppose a new policy adopted by the Republican-controlled school board that allows parents to challenge age-inappropriate content.

So far, just two books have been deemed unsuitable for the students out of some 60 reported: “Gender Queer” and “This Book is Gay.”

Political consultant Bob Salera founded the PAC. Though currently based in Arlington, Va., Salera grew up in Pittsburgh and has been involved in Pennsylvania politics for years, including working on Dave White’s gubernatorial campaign. He told DVJournal he was approached by some Bucks County residents to get involved with the Central Bucks School Board race.

Image from “Gender Queer”

The mailing also included an application for a mail-in ballot and a postage-paid envelope.

Asked if he was concerned about a backlash from voters who opened the envelopes and saw the lewd pictures, Salerna said the message was too important not to share.

“Our thought is that parents and voters should know what these Democrat candidates want in their kids’ schools. Some of the Democratic candidates compared people who don’t think these types of images should be in middle schools to Nazi book burning,” said Salera. “So we wanted to make sure that voters were aware of exactly what it is that they’re defending, and the only way to do that is to show them.”

He noted that they pushed the Nazi smear of these school board members despite the fact that the president, Dana Hunter, is Jewish.

Chalfont parent Jamie Cohen Walker said, “I think it’s an informative mailer because the Central Bucks School Board was being called ‘book banners’ and anti-LGBTQ.”

The PAC, which Salera said has multiple donors, plans to continue its campaign against the five Democratic candidates until the election.

Salera asked why he was interested in a school board race, saying, “I think people are seeing how important local races are, school boards and local councils. (They) really impact your day-to-day life more than any other level of politics because these are the people that are dealing with your day-to-day life, with your kids’ schools.

“So it’s important to take them seriously, and when folks came to me, wanting to do something about the school board in particular, I was more than happy to start this PAC,” Salera continued. “And to help with that effort to beat these extremist Democrats at the local level.”

As for whether conservative voters will be turned off by the mailing, he said, “I certainly don’t think that receiving this is going to make them vote for the people that want to put it in their schools.”

Walker said, “If people are shocked at the pictures, they should remember that Democrats are strong advocates to keep these books in school. They will be right back on the shelves if they are elected to the board.”

As for the criticism of the mailing, Walker said, “If they want the books, I don’t understand why they are upset.”

There’s a new PAC in town: Stop Extremism in Central Bucks Schools.

Bob Salera, a political strategist, heads the political action committee (PAC), whose mission is to defend candidates who want to keep what they believe is inappropriate content — such as depictions of sex acts — out of public schools.

Front and center in its first email is a picture of the five Democrats running for school board: incumbent Karen Smith, Dana Foley, Suan Gibson, Heather Reynolds, and Rick Haring, along with the slogan “The Corrupt Five.” They are posed with the books “Gender Queer” and “This Book is Gay,” opened to pages that illustrate a graphic sexual act and a cartoon of a man’s genitalia, along with the caption: “Bum: Up your bum you have a prostate gland which feels nice when massaged. The anus is also sensitive and responds to being played with.”

The ACLU and others have attacked the current Republican-controlled school board for the misnomered “book banning” for enacting a policy that allows school library books to be challenged and reviewed if they have gratuitous sex, violence, or pornographic illustrations. In CBSD and other Delaware Valley districts, parents have objected to those books and others that they deem unsuitable, especially for younger children.

The Democrats, using the title “Neighbors United,” did not respond to requests for comment. The GOP candidates–Dr. Stephen Mass, Board President Dana Hunter, Glenn Schloeffel, and Tony Arjona could not be reached for comment.  Aarati Martino said that she had never heard of the group.

“Everyone already knows about the disgusting agenda being promoted by the extremist Democrats running for Central Bucks School Board,” said Salera, who described the sex acts promoted in these books. “But what isn’t as widely known is their corrupt actions that have simultaneously been occurring. These morally bankrupt extremists can be assured that we will be relentless in shining a light on all of it between now and Election Day,” said Salera.

He added, “This has nothing to do with sexual orientation or sexual identity. This is about smut like this not belonging in school libraries. If The Corrupt Five think it is inappropriate to share these images on a website, then why do they think it is acceptable to share them with 11-year-old children? These are very sick people.”

Salera is well-known in GOP circles.

Before starting his firm, Salera was Dave White’s campaign manager when White ran for governor in 2022. He is a Pennsylvania native who worked for former Gov. Tom Corbett, worked on his gubernatorial campaigns, and worked on GOP presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania. He has also helped shape the NRCC’s messaging strategy as a senior communications team member in 2020 when the GOP made history by flipping 15 House seats when race prognosticators predicted the GOP would lose “dozens of seats.” Salera was also a senior NRSC communications team member when it defeated four incumbent senators (Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Bill Nelson in Florida, and Claire McCaskill in Missouri).

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The battle between progressive activists and advocates for parents’ rights at Central Bucks School District will be settled at the ballot box this fall.

Both sides are fielding full slates of candidates for November’s election. The Republican primary slate is Dr. Stephen Mass, Board President Dana Hunter, Glenn Schloeffel, Aarati Martino, and Tony Arjona. The Democratic candidates are school board member Karen Smith, Heather Reynolds, Dana Foley, Rick Haring, and Susan Gibson.

A backlash to what critics call far-left policies imposed on the Central Bucks School District resulted in a Republican-controlled school board in 2021. Progressive activists immediately went on the warpath, making allegations of bullying and bigotry to discredit the Republican board.

The ACLU targeted the district, which filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and activist groups. It was also the brunt of bad publicity as critics brought out protestors to fight alleged “book bans” and support transgender rights.

However, an exhaustive report by the prominent law firm Duane Morris found many of the allegations, including not acting against bullying of LGBTQ+ students, made by the critics turned out to be false.

Delaware Valley Journal’s previous reporting showed the controversial Policy 321, which was widely protested as a way to keep gay pride flags out of classrooms, actually kept all displays of political content, including Trump flags, out of classrooms unless they were part of the curriculum being taught. Teachers must also refrain from advocating their own political points of view to their students.

Image from “Gender Queer”

The school board also drew heat for a new policy that allows people to ask for school library books to be reviewed if they have gratuitous sex and violence or pornographic illustrations.

Mass, a Republican candidate, said, “If some of our opponents were somewhat more rational, we’d never have had the acrimony.”

He noted that his opponent, Smith, had reported the district to the DOE. The district subsequently paid $1 million in legal fees to defend itself.

Smith, who is running for her third term against Mass in Region 1, denied she filed a formal complaint against the district. Rather, she said, she emailed Education Secretary Miguel Cardona “and asked for his help.” At that point, she said the ACLU and other groups were threatening to sue the district. She claimed the Duane Morris lawyers never interviewed her. “I was doing my duty as an elected official,” said Smith.

If she is re-elected, along with others on the Democratic slate, “I would like to return the focus to academics and making positive changes for students. The last year or so, there’s been quite a lot of negative attention (to the district).”

“The board majority, their agenda, has not taken us in a positive direction,” said Smith. “I would like to return to fundamentals and away from the national culture war.”

As for allowing parents to review books, many of those books “have images that can’t be printed in the newspaper,” Mass said. He supports the steps the Republican majority board has taken to protect students.

Reportedly, two books, “Gender Queer” and “This Book is Gay,” have been reviewed and will be replaced with other books. “Gender Queer” has caused controversy in other Delaware Valley districts, where parents are dismayed at seeing graphic depictions of sexual acts.

“The majority of people, Democrat or Republican, would be shocked” to see what’s in these books, Mass said. And “This Book Is Gay” describes itself as a “how-to” book for having sex, including illustrations depicting explicit nudity and sexual activities.

Smith said part of the complaint by the ACLU was regarding the board’s library book policy, which she had no part in.

“Obviously, I’m happy to make a change there,’ said Smith.

“The elephant in the room is kids aren’t reading,” said Mass. “They’re not reading anything challenging.” That is an issue the district needs to focus on.

As for the primary, “It’s the warm-up for the general election,” he said. The slate of Republican candidates will “concentrate on getting our message out.”

Martino said, “I am honored and excited to be the Republican candidate for Central Bucks School Board. When campaigning, I enjoy talking to many of my fellow citizens and making new friends in our community. It is also clear that I have to set the record straight with many of my fellow neighbors.”

Rick Haring, her opponent in Region 6, did not respond to the DVJournal’s request for an interview.

His website states that if elected, he will  “fight  “to prevent book bans on material with literary merit” and sup” ort LGBTQ+ students.

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Not so long ago, school board elections were sleepy affairs. Candidates cross-filed. And the meetings themselves were snoozers.

But with the advent of COVID-19 lockdowns, parents noticed the curriculum being taught to their children and grew alarmed. Many ran for school board seats and won.

In the Central Bucks School District, when Republicans won control of the board in 2021, the angry reaction from a group of activists was a constant drumbeat of negativity, reinforced by a barrage of negative press. The 2023 school board election may prove a referendum on the district’s new direction and a harbinger for 2024.

The writing is in some ways already on the wall. An investigation last month by Duane Morris, a top legal firm led by former U.S. Attorneys, showed that partisan complaints had been brought against the district leading to an ACLU filing with the Department of Education. And board Vice President Karen Smith had filed a separate complaint with the DOE without mentioning it to fellow board members.

Smith, a Democrat, is running seeking a third term. The other Democratic candidates who garnered the endorsement of The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board are Heather Reynolds, Dana Foley, Rick Haring, and Susan Gibson. A recent Broad + Liberty editorial highlighted the blatant media bias from The Inquirer and WHYY in their coverage of the Central Bucks School Board.

Board President Dana Hunter and newcomers Aarati Martino, Dr. Stephen Mass, Glenn Schloeffel, and Tony Arjona are the Republicans running.

Mass said, “It sounds like The Inquirer is so happy with the results the schools in its own backyard are getting that they decided to offer us advice out in the suburbs.

“What’s really amazing about their editorial is what they don’t state: They offer absolutely no rebuttal of the facts in the report. If the report is misleading, please let us know what facts are inaccurate. They do not seem to contest any fact in the report. Also, The Inquirer loves to talk about books being limited in our libraries. I would like them to publish some of the controversial graphic images. Let them run them on their editorial page so that the readers can decide. But wait, they can’t do that because the pictures are obscene. They’re OK for our 12-year-old students, but not for the readers of The Inquirer?”

Paul Martino, the venture capitalist who funded slates of conservative school board candidates around the state in 2021, said, “The Philadelphia Inquirer today wrote an endorsement for Central Bucks School Board primary. The primary! If you don’t think school boards matter, this is your evidence. Naturally, they back the wrong candidates, including Karen Smith, who was exposed as the person who ran to the office of civil rights without informing the rest of the board.”

In an interview with DVJournal, Mass emphasized that he can be calm and defuse emotional situations as a surgeon.

He said the COVID era was a wake-up call.

“I was really amazed by the depths of learning loss and the mental health issues that came with COVID and the lockdowns,” said Mass. “No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, everyone agreed the lockdowns were really horrendous on their kids.”

And as for the criticism of the board’s rule to ban political flags from classrooms, Mass said, “You think that was a good idea. I don’t think kids should know what party their teacher belongs to or how they’re voting.”

And while the board was accused of banning books, “the policy is pretty narrow.”

“It’s pretty much a commonsense thing,” he said. “I don’t think very many parents want their children to see porn, seeing images which are inappropriate, age-inappropriate.”

Mass thinks many challenged books should stay, but a few “bad apples” should go.

“The bigger scandal is that kids, generally, aren’t reading. Every teacher has told me they don’t have the concentration span,” he said. And depression and mental illness have increased, especially for girls.

But people, including board members, just kept yelling, he said.

“The person I’m trying to replace (Smith) is someone who’s been sort of an epicenter of a lot of bad will,” said Mass. “Not only reporting our district to the Feds but a lot of (her) remarks, a lot of acrimony and name-calling, calling other board members’ Nazis,’ it’s gotten to the point where it’s almost irreparable damage. It’s going to be hard to move forward unless we change this position.”

Aarati Martino said, “It is very sad that the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer has been taken in by these political arsonists. It is true that we have had drama after drama after the 2021 election, but it has been manufactured by a small minority of activists that want to besmirch our district so that they can obtain control of our kids. If you notice, it is the same group and the same names. I do not doubt that these kids have been mistreated; we should help them. But overall, our district has a lower-than-average rate of bullying.

“We have 18,000 kids in the district, and according to the CDC, at least 25 percent of students are not straight. This means we probably have about 1,500 high school-aged LGBTQ kids in the system. But so far, only seven detailed cases of mistreatment in the ACLU complaint, so 0.4 percent of all LBGTQ kids in our area. Also, remember that the original complaint filed by (teacher Anthony) Burgess to the Department of Education was dropped.

“We’ve hashed this drama over and over again for months now,” she said. “It has only led to more angst in our district, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Let’s get back to investing in our kids and ignore this rancor. The kids are the reason we all moved here in the first place, right? Let’s start talking to each other and appreciate the diverse viewpoints in our community instead of bringing in the Feds like Ms. Smith elected to do. Let’s stop paying attention to the media and their fiery clickbait headlines that gain clicks at the expense of destroying our community bonds and our schools’ reputations.

“I do agree with the editorial  that ‘public education is about accepting and educating everyone.’ Let’s get off social media and start talking to each other as regular people again. Let’s set a better example for our kids.”

Neither Smith nor Haring, who are running against Aarati Martino and Mass, responded to requests for comment.

Claims that the Central Bucks School Board has engaged in discrimination against LGBTQ+ students are unfounded and based on false claims made by partisan activists, a new report released Thursday says.

The district has been embroiled in controversy since the ACLU filed a complaint against it with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in November.

The investigation by the Duane Morris law firm is based on a review of 23,000 pages of documents examining complaints from the ACLU and the DOE. According to Duane Morris attorney Michael Rinaldi, the firm interviewed 45 people, including principals, staff, and community members.

“The ACLU complaint has hung over this district for months now,” school board President Dana Hunter said at Thursday’s meeting. “And this board took those allegations very seriously, which is why we engaged Duane Morris to do an independent investigation.”

Among its findings, the attorneys recommended that middle school teacher Andrew Burgess be suspended without pay. Burgess allegedly told vulnerable LGBTQ+ students who sought his help to refrain from telling the principal or guidance counselors about bullying issues. Instead, Burgess allegedly created a dossier to send to DOE.

He reportedly discouraged a parent from talking to the principal, saying the principal would not act.

Burgess planned to use those students’ problems to chip away at the Republican majority school board through a planned media campaign, Rinaldi said.

Paul Martino, a parent and conservative donor whose Back to School PAC helped flip the board in 2021, called the board’s criticisms “a coordinated effort that was launched the day they lost the campaign.”

“What this report shows clearly is that the leftists in Bucks County were so mad that they lost that they were going to lie and manufacture stories so that they could get back into power in two years.

“We have all suffered because of the strategy they launched over their kitchen tables the day they lost that election in November (2021). They’re bad actors. This report makes it clear,” said Martino.

The lawyers interviewed Burgess, the middle school teacher, under oath. Rinaldi said the firm created a timeline from his emails and interviews showing Burgess’ actions.

Several of Burgess’s emails to other teachers praised Principal Geanine Saullo’s quick actions in bullying cases, belying what he told the LGBTQ+ students and the parent.

Burgess himself did not respond when asked to comment on Friday. Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, answered in his stead, calling the investigation “worthless.”

“A credible investigation would not have hired people who have an obvious bias against the trans and non-binary students who complained,” Walczak said.

“Credible interviewers would not have told witnesses that the district’s recent homophobic policies were legal and reasonable, or they would not have argued over that point with the witnesses.”

Rinaldi, in the report, also revealed that Democrat School Board Member Karen Smith had written an email to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona complaining about the district and asking for help after the Republican majority passed policies that she disagreed with. The review found that Smith never told the board or administration that she had complained to DOE.

During the meeting, Smith herself complained she had not had time to read the 151-page report the law firm had produced and that even though students’ names were redacted, the facts reported could identify them.

Rinaldi also addressed claims the district was engaged in so-called “book banning,” an accusation he said was not supported by the facts.

“No book has been removed, and any removal decision will be made by professionals based on neutral, educational criteria,” Rinaldi said. “Books don’t spontaneously appear on the shelves.”

Reacting to the report, vice president Leigh Vlasblom said: “I have a board member who lied to the federal government and, in doing so, has cost this district $1 million. I would have paid $10 million to protect my children and protect my staff.

“If you come at my teachers, or you come at my administrators, or you come at my children, you’d better bet there is no price tag too big to protect them,” added Vlasblom. “So, I’m angry.”

Hunter told radio host and DVJournal columnist Dom Giordano Friday that the findings in the report are supported by “a lot of documents.”

“Everybody wonders why did the district go to these lengths?” Hunter said. “We had to go to these lengths. I believed, and I still believe, and we got the proof last night that the administrators and staff in this district care deeply for every child.”

Once Smith’s allegations went to the DOE, Hunter argued, “We had an obligation to look into those allegations and make sure our children were being properly cared for, and make sure the administrators and our staff are defended properly.”

After the Thursday meeting, parent Jamie Walker said, “Honestly, nothing that Karen Smith does shocks me. She worked very hard to keep kids out of school during COVID. She sent a doctor’s email full of incorrect information and lies about (Bucks County Health Director) Dr. (David) Damsker to our previous board and administration. She continually voted against kids being normal in school.”

Walker added, “It’s really scary that a teacher (who works at my kids’ school) would hide bullying from the administration to seek fame and hurt a school board.”

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We have a great community.  And in no small part that’s  because of our Central Bucks School District.

Our students have a 99 percent graduation rate, enjoy nearly 300 extracurricular activities, create and star in incredible musicals, are accomplished artists, tradespeople, athletes, and scholars.  And yet, over the last year and a half, many have observed our regional legacy media print biased stories from reporters that seem intent to discredit our current board.  

Biased reporting and at times the spread of misinformation about our district is harmful to our entire community and its reputation.  Harmful to the students, the graduates and the teachers and staff. Biased news is stoking anger that encourages citizens to believe incorrect and inappropriate charges. And at times hateful nonproductive rhetoric that further detracts from what should unite us all: Ensuring that our students are all supported toward a bright future.

Multiple examples were on display at and after the March 14 school board meeting. At the meeting’s opening, under the slogan “Community Pride Starts Here,” 25 CBSD students from our excellent MBIT program were appropriately honored as medalists in the nationally based Skills USA Competition. One student, Connor McGlinchy and his teammate, received more than $285,000 in scholarships and tools for their 1st place win.  Instead of focusing on celebrating these students, a news piece in the Bucks County Courier Times about the meeting questioned whether the school board violated the Sunshine Act by granting space for the students and their parents to receive their accolades, thus taking time from other community members.

As the awarded students and their parents filtered out to be replaced by other interested community members ( thus proving the premise of the Courier Times article was ridiculous) the school board President Dana Hunter asked for civility as she revealed that several school board members had been the victims of threatening profane phone calls. She played one for the audience and it was shocking. By failing to report on the threats, the local news is preventing an opportunity for the community to understand how significant the anger and division have become.

Public comment during the meeting demonstrated that the public has been misinformed. The most disturbing example of this was the author of a letter to the board and administration written by a CBSD alumna and signed by 800 additional grads.  The letter could be signed using a goggle form as many times as a person wanted to sign. One unverified person could sign fifty times.  Even before this letter was read on March 14, several local media outlets had featured it, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Bucks County Courier Times.   This letter was filled with misinformation that an already biased media chose to emphasize.

The alumni letter stated that the board “approved the strictest library book ban in the state, allowing a small handful of parents to challenge and remove from district libraries any book that they found objectionable.” This is patently false.   Anyone interested in the topic should read policy 109.2 to discover that the policy is not a ban at all, nor does it allow parents to remove any books.

The policy serves as  a process that allows for concerned parents to challenge books that contain explicit gratuitous sexual acts. While not a single book has thus far been removed, even if one is, it must be replaced with a book “of equal or better merit and which convey the same or similar educational purpose that may have led to the objected material being included in the library in the first place.” In other words, if a book was chosen to help students to identify with the author, or because of a theme representing a group of students, it must be replaced for these reasons. This negates the charge in the alumni letter that the policy is targeting books on LGBTQ themes.

The letter goes on to state that “Policy 321 bans teachers from discussing “partisan, political, or social policy matters” in schools and from displaying any symbols that might be considered political, including pride flags.” Again false as a perusal of policy 321 at the source demonstrates that teachers are not banned from discussing these matters or displaying symbols when those relate to the curriculum.  While pride flags were included, so were all flags coming from any side of political and social policy issues.

How does this policy not ensure that  every child be able to have real and full conversations regarding matters covered in the curriculum? In fact, classrooms free of political bias would fully allow the “marketplace of ideas that challenge students to grow and flourish their intellect” that the author of the alumni letter touted. If you, as a parent, do not feel comfortable for your child’s teacher to visibly lobby for either President Trump OR President Biden, then this policy is for you!

The alumni letter additionally charged a specific reason that a teacher had been placed on administrative leave. The district has stated repeatedly that that the circumstances of this teacher’s administrative leave are under investigation. It is inappropriate to ascribe rumors to reason, while a full investigation is pending.

The letter also stated that the school board members canceled sex education classes across the district rather than accommodating a non-binary student.  In fact, the classes were not cancelled. They had been changed to online.

As CBSD students are taught to always check original source material. It is disappointing that the author and 800 students would not take the time to read and understand the above-mentioned policies and scenarios before writing and signing on to misinformation. Misinformation that has been and is damaging the reputation of our entire community and stoking anger that is leading to threats.

I implore this community to consider a variety of sources. We have worked too hard as a community of parents, students, teachers and staff to build an incredible district and reputation.  We must not lose it to bias and misinformation.

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She may be tiny, but she is a force to be reckoned with.

Aarati Martino, a Google software engineer for nearly two decades and the mother of two is running for the Central Bucks School Board District Six.

Martino, the wife of Paul Martino, the venture capitalist who recently opened a posh sports bar in Center City Philadelphia, said the couple moved to Doylestown from Silicon Valley so their children could live normal lives.

“California is a very liberal place,” said Martino. “When we had our kids, we said, we can’t raise them here. It was too expensive. There’s not the support. There’s not the values.”

In Silicon Valley, “There’s a huge divide. You either send your kids to a very expensive, elite private school with all the other well-compensated people’s kids, or you could send them into public school where your kids are going to school with gangsters.”

“There’s no middle ground,” she said. “It’s actually really sad. We wanted our kids to go to school with people from all walks of life because that’s life. That’s the American way.

“Paul and I purposefully moved here from Silicon Valley so our kids could grow up somewhere normal, with good schools and great hoagies. After COVID, I saw the learning loss, especially in mathematics, and felt compelled to help fix it. My parents are immigrants, and we have benefited so much from this country, so I must pay it forward.”

Martino added, “I’m pretty sure I can use my engineering and management skills to elevate the kids and get them back on track. From there, I want to enhance their education so they will be ready for the fast-paced technological world we live in.  With disruptive technologies like ChatGPT and social media, we have to prepare kids with the right skills so they can succeed, regardless of what the future holds.

“My background is in engineering,” Martino continued. “So, I appreciate any occupation that also creates and makes things better, including the wealth of artisans, hairdressers, writers, chefs, woodworkers…all living around us. We should build mentorships for our kids with these amazing experts at an early age while their minds are so fresh,” she added.

But some in Central Bucks have been protesting since a Republican majority was elected to the school board in 2021. Media coverage is routinely negative. Members of the education establishment are fighting the board on several issues, such as removing pornographic books from school libraries and banning flags that promote politics from classrooms.

“We saw in politics these things are happening in southern California, and now it’s coming to our doorstep,” said Martino.

Martino is already under attack, with people saying her husband is buying her a seat on the school board.

But Martino, who holds degrees from M.I.T. and a Ph.D. from Stanford, said she makes her own money.

“She said, ‘I feel it’s my responsibility to run,’ and I was like, ‘Yes. Let’s go. Let’s do it.’”

Martino is detail-oriented and believes she would be a great school board member.

While some think the minutiae that school boards deal with is dull, she explained, “I’ve actually gotten good at that kind of stuff. So when you’re talking about the boring stuff at school board meetings, it’s like, no, that’s actually the (important) stuff. If you know those tiny little details, if you understand, then you can put that stuff together and actually build something really good,” said Martino. “You just need to know how to do it and pay attention to it…And once you know how something works, this is how this works and how this money goes here, well, you know.”

“Bucks County is such fertile ground, and the district is already affording so many great opportunities for our kids, and I believe we can do even more. I would love to unite the community to do what we all agree upon, enriching our children so they can flourish as adults.”

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This article firt appeared in Broad + Liberty

Readers of news in southeast Pennsylvania may be under the impression that “anti-LGBT” hate pervades the newly flipped Central Bucks School District, but the district isn’t being helped at all by local media determined not to include the district’s explanations and defenses of its policies.

On at least five occasions, two prominent news outlets in the region have published articles casting the current board in the Central Bucks School District in a negative light on socially divisive issues, but the articles contained scant reference — or no reference whatsoever — to the district’s position or reaction to events.

A Broad + Liberty review of numerous articles about the district identified two articles by WHYY’s Emily Rizzo and two articles by Bucks County Courier Times reporter Chris Ullery in which there was no attempt at all by the journalists to contemporaneously portray or describe the district’s point of view. One additional article by Rizzo did present part of the district’s point of view, but only quoted the board president for a total of four words, effectively negating the emotional plea she made at a board hearing.

For the five stories analyzed here, CBSD Board President Dana Hunter said the district was not contacted for comment. Rizzo, and Ullery’s employer, Gannet, dispute that conclusion and defended their work as fair.

STORY 1: ‘These are human rights issues’: Pa. school board directors condemn Central Bucks for apparent anti-LGBTQ actions

This February story focused on a letter authored by 52 school board members from other districts condemning many of the policies and actions of the CBSD, whose board was won by a conservative majority after the November 2021 elections.

Rizzo’s story quoted the letter at length, and also quoted two of the letter’s signers. The story did not, however, present any response from the district, nor did it attempt to present or paraphrase any of the previous arguments the board had put forward in the ongoing debate over its policies.

The sentence familiar to all news consumers — “A request for comment was not returned.” — does not appear anywhere in the story.

A Broad + Liberty analysis of the letter signatories cross-referenced with Pennsylvania voter rolls shows at least 50 of the 52 signatories are Democrats. The party affiliation of one could not be determined. One person who signed the letter, Diana Stitt, is not on a school board, having lost her election in 2021.

Rizzo ignored a pointed question as to whether she tried to determine any significant partisan leaning from the group who signed the letter.

One board member from a neighboring district said the letter’s curators probably knew to be cautious in whom to approach.

“As one of 2 Republican members of the school board at Owen J. Roberts, I was not approached regarding this letter. I learned about it from a news article and saw that one of our members signed it,” she said. “I have no idea who was approached regarding this letter, but I assumed that it was a Democratic initiative and as a known conservative, the organizers would know better than to approach me.”

Broad + Liberty reached out to 51 of the letter signatories to verify our party-affiliation analysis. Efforts to reach Stitt were unsuccessful.

STORY 2: Central Bucks asks ACLU to reveal the LGBTQ students behind its federal complaint. ACLU says they fear retaliation

One of the most consequential moments of the new board’s tenure came in October when the ACLU of Pennsylvania unveiled a 72-page complaint — 27 whole pages of which were redacted — it filed with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that the CBSD had created a discriminatory atmosphere, especially with regards to gay and transgender students.

Rizzo’s story two days later noted that CBSD Board President Dana Hunter asked the ACLU for an unredacted version of the report so that it could investigate and appropriately deal with any instances of bullying.

Rizzo wrote that Hunter, “said the anonymous nature makes it ‘impossible’ for the district to ‘intervene.’”

Using that selectivity, Rizzo quoted a total of four words from CBSD Board President Dana Hunter, while quoting two persons from the ACLU more than thirty times that amount.

Despite having a full day between the board meeting and publishing her story, Rizzo would not or could not pull a quote from Hunter about her plea for help so that the district could address any problems of bullying or other problems of discrimination.

For example, Hunter said, “The anonymous and hidden nature of this information makes it impossible for our administrators, school counselors, and teachers to do the critical work of connecting with these unnamed individuals to intervene and address any possible bullying or problematic situations.”

“Please, if you are a student experiencing bullying or a family member who is concerned that your student is the target of discrimination or harassment of any kind, please come to your building principal, to your teachers, to anyone of our administrators, so that we can work together to support you and rectify the situation,” Hunter added.

Rizzo and her editors did not answer a direct question about why her story quoted Hunter so selectively and without context, as opposed to sharing longer portions of her statement.

The article seemed to imply that Hunter and the district wanted an unredacted version of the ACLU report to be released to the public at large, which Hunter says is not the case.

“The request was that the information be provided to administration so that the allegations could be investigated,” Hunter explained. “These are allegations against our teachers and staff. If there are children being bullied or harassed and it isn’t being handled properly, our administrators need to know so that it is properly addressed and children are protected.”

While Hunter’s remarks at the October meeting did not clearly express that the board hoped only for a private and confidential copy of the ACLU report, Rizzo’s reporting also did not resolve that ambiguity.

STORY 3: Student protesters threatened, while a new policy to censor library books looms in Central Bucks School District

The report from May led with the fact that an undisclosed number of students protested in support of teacher Andrew Burgess, whose leave of absence has been a topic of intense speculation and debate.

The district’s response is not provided, and Rizzo did not indicate she tried to get it.

This was the only story in which Rizzo gave specifics in her defense (her whole response provided further in the story), saying that the district failed to reply to two emails requesting comment. The story makes no mention of the outreach, or the district’s failure to respond.

STORY 4: CB teachers concerned about risk to students vow to defy transgender policy. ‘We’re not doing it’

In November, Ullery reported that a handful of teachers in the district planned to defy a district guide on which names to use for students.

The 1,400-word article did present prior arguments made by Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh, but the article also does not indicate if Ullery made any effort to obtain a contemporary quote from the district.

STORY 5: Central Bucks School District teachers walk out of meetings over new policy

An Ullery report from January summarized an incident where teachers walked out of class in protest of Policy 321, which bans teachers from displaying political flags or other paraphernalia in the classroom unless the flags or materials are related to the curriculum.

The policy is widely characterized in the media as “banning Pride flags,” — especially in headlines — but media characterizations rarely add that the policy also bans Trump flags, Thin Blue Line flags supporting law enforcement, and even the Confederate battle flag, unless the flags are related to curriculum, according to Hunter.

Ullery’s story quoted Superintendent Lucabaugh, but only from an email leaked to Ullery by the discontented teachers. Nothing in the story indicates if Ullery made a contemporary effort to obtain further comment from the district on the Lucabaugh email, or on the walkout.

FALLOUT

Hunter says the district did reach out to WHYY and Rizzo last year to discuss concerns the district had about the reporting, a not uncommon move by elected officials or governments who feel reporting does not provide sufficient balance or factual accuracy.

“Based on Emily Rizzo’s words and actions, it does not appear that she has interest in providing accurate or balanced information,” Hunter told Broad + Liberty. “The communications team did have more than one conversation with her about this on our behalf. The coverage of the district did not change.”

If Rizzo and Ullery did not reach out to obtain contemporary comment from the district as Hunter alleges, the actions would run counter to the published ethical guidelines set forward by each outlet’s parent news organization.

WHYY is a taxpayer-funded affiliate of National Public Radio whose ethical guide states, “We strive to give our audience confidence that all sides have been considered and represented fairly.”

The Bucks County Courier Times is owned by Gannett News, whose ethical reporting guide says, “We will strive to include all sides relevant to a story and not take sides in news coverage.”

In response to a detailed list of questions, Rizzo said, “I’ve reached out to school district leaders and stakeholders throughout my reporting and will continue to do so. For the story dated May 14, 2022, I reached out to the school district asking for a response to the allegations, as I do always. In two separate emails, the district gave me no reply.”

“I will continue to report on the Central Bucks School District developments with fairness and accuracy,” she concluded.

“The Bucks County Courier Times strives to include all relevant sides in our reporting,” said Danielle Camilli, editor of the Bucks County Courier Times and the Intelligencer. “We have provided the district with an opportunity to comment on the new policy and the ongoing issues being raised by faculty and students. Throughout the course of our reporting we will continue to be fair, accurate, complete, and unbiased in our coverage.”

Even when the board majority has had the opportunity to directly communicate its own thoughts and ideas, as it did in a January editorial in the Inquirer, the board says it has been left feeling snake-bitten.

When the six members of the “majority” authored the editorial in defense of some of its policies, the Inquirer headlined the piece, “We voted to ban Pride flags in Central Bucks classrooms because students should be taught how to think, not what to think[.]”

“The Philadelphia Inquirer chose the headline, we did not have any knowledge of it,” Hunter said. “Many of us were very frustrated with the title chosen and did not feel it was accurate. The headline contradicted the content of the op Ed, subsequently it lead (sic) to emails from the community expressing much confusion.”

Requests for comment to the Inquirer about the editorial’s headline were not returned.

“So yes, Policy 321 prevents teachers from hanging Pride flags in their classrooms” the editorial noted. “But it also bans anti-abortion banners, or any poster advocating for a particular partisan, political, or social policy issue, unless related to the day’s curriculum.

“We understand that the policy upsets some advocates. It upsets some teachers who want to advocate their personal views in the classroom; it upsets some students who agree with those views; it upsets some community activists who want to see their views championed in the classroom; it upsets some elements of the press who agree with those views; and it upsets the three board members who voted against the policy. But this outcry merely demonstrates the urgent need for the policy. Without it, partisan activity would abound in some classrooms.”

Staff members in the Central Bucks School District could soon face disciplinary action for advocating to students about “partisan, political or social policy issues.”

The proposal, advanced after discussion at a policy meeting this month, is up for consideration at next month’s school board meeting and could be adopted as early as February, according to school officials.

The controversial policy, which has spurred an outside investigation into the district’s treatment of LGBTQ students, says employees “shall not display any flag, banner, poster, sign, sticker, pin, button, insignia, paraphernalia, photograph, or other similar material that advocates concerning any partisan, political, or social policy.”

It was retooled, at the recommendation from district legal counsel, who nixed language which previously referred to “beliefs about sexual orientation” and “beliefs about gender identity” as topics for which teachers to avoid advocating.

The revisions did little to quell the heated debate at a recent committee meeting, with supporters claiming the measure is solely intended to keep classrooms “neutral” and ensure students are educated rather than “indoctrinated.”

But critics feel the policy is too vaguely worded and makes teachers targets for parents who could interpret lessons as having political and policy slants with which they disagree.

At the Dec. 14 meeting, the Republican majority was asked to more narrowly define “social policy issues.”

Abortion was mentioned as one example, and board president Dana Hunter told The Inquirer in a statement the policy prohibits Pride flags “just as it would prohibit, for example, the display of Blue Lives Matter flags, antiabortion flags, or any other flags that advocate on social policy issues.”

The struggle plays out at the same time that the district faces a U.S. Department of Education investigation based on allegations laid out in a complaint filed earlier this year by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

The organization claims the district has created a hostile environment for LGBTQ students, pointing in part to a recent decision from district officials requiring staff members to remove Pride flags from their classrooms because they conveyed political sentiments.

The school district hired the law firm Duane Morris, of which former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McSwain is a partner, to review the ACLU’s claims and review the district’s policies.

Jamie Walker, who has three children attending district schools, said the issue was being overblown by political factions upset by GOP control of the board.

“I personally think the Democratic Party is using it to try to sway people to vote for them during school board elections,” she told DVJournal in a recent interview. “They want to try to paint our Republican school board members as anti-gay, anti-inclusive. I don’t know why they’re making it such a big deal. I think parents want to keep all classrooms neutral.”

One board member worried teachers who displayed pictures of same-sex spouses would subject to harassment.

And others who spoke during public comment said it opened up a Pandora’s box, potentially deterring other forms of advocacy, such as autism awareness.

Retired Bucks Central teacher Katherine Semisch said students are already increasingly uncomfortable with being exposed to a curriculum that doesn’t jibe with their beliefs.

Such a policy, in addition to alienating LGBTQ students, could stymie intellectually honest conversations in classrooms, she added.

“Where is the evidence of any indoctrination? It’s a policy based on runaway fears,” Semisch said. “Students become adversaries, spying and reporting out on their teachers. … This is a problem, not a goal.”

Advocates said the policy carved out exemptions protecting teachers from unnecessary parental intrusion.

The policy says instruction on political and social issues is allowed “when directly relevant to the curriculum and appropriate to classroom studies given the students’ age, class year, and course of study; provided, however, that such instruction or study is not to advocate concerning a partisan, political, or social policy issue.”

Walker believes the district is “being run great,” and she’s “fine with my kids learning about all sorts of things.” But felt it’s best if teachers keep political opinions to themselves.

“What happened in Bucks County during COVID, it just opened up parents’ eyes to what’s going on with their schools and how politicized they’ve become. Parents are sick of it,” she said. “People just want their kids to get educated. Keep politics out of this.”

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The man who fueled a political action committee boosting school board candidates committed to in-person instruction took his fight directly into the heart of the arena [March 8], arguing that board members who accepted election funding from teachers’ unions should recuse themselves from upcoming contract negotiations.

Paul Martino, the multimillionaire funder behind “Back to School PA,” made his remarks in person at a Central Bucks School District board meeting, the district where two of his children are enrolled.

He set the table for allegations of hypocrisy by saying his own activism in school board races in 2021 had frequently been referred to as “unheard of” or unprecedented.

“Also of note: $40,000 was contributed in cash and in kind to the Democratic candidates by the PSEA [Pennsylvania State Education Association teachers’ union], the school board, the school teachers. This is a truly unheard-of amount of $8,000 per candidate,” he said.

“In my day job, I sit on a lot of boards of directors and that’s called conflicted interest,” he concluded while saying board members Dr. Mariam Mahmud and Dr. Tabitha Dell’Angelo should recuse themselves from the upcoming collective bargaining for a new multi-year contract.

Martino is a co-founder and managing general partner at Bullpen Capital, a venture capital firm.

After being frustrated with the at-home telelearning his children endured at the start of the pandemic, he began to pour some of his political discontent into the PAC, Back to School PA. BTSPA then took Martino’s contributions and doled them out in smaller increments to even smaller PACS across the commonwealth dedicated to races within a single school board.

BTSPA executive director Beth Ann Rosica told Broad + Liberty that 113 candidates supported by the PAC won their races in November.

In his runup to asking for the recusal, Martino tried to draw a contrast between how his own political activism had been treated in the press and elsewhere compared to monies raised and distributed by unions and their allies.

“I’m here to tell you that Democrat candidates raised $122,000 compared to our $95,000 — outspending us by $30,000 or by 30%. It was the Democrats who spent an unprecedented amount of money on this race, not the Republicans. And they did so in a convoluted way, through ten different PACS, hiding the ball.”

Martino put his claims in a white paper produced and published on the BTSPA website. Although Broad + Liberty has not had the opportunity to factcheck all of Martino’s assertions, campaign finance reports obtained and shared by BTSPA show that the PSEA did provide at least $38,000 to the PAC that supported the Democratic slate of candidates, CBSD Neighbors United. The PSEA also made smaller donations in the race to complete the $41,000 referenced by Martino in his remarks at the board meeting.

Neither the PSEA nor the Central Bucks School District returned requests for comment.

The current contract for teachers in Central Bucks expires on June 30, according to this copy of the contract posted online.

Meanwhile, the district has been without a contract for support professionals since June, according to a January report from the Bucks County Courier Times.

“While specifics have not been discussed publicly, the stalemate appears to be at least in part due to pay increases that employees have said need to reflect the added work brought by the pandemic since 2020,” the paper said.

Martino’s activism last year drew even national coverage from outlets like Vice, amidst a year in which education was a pivot point for many voters nationally. Pundits pointed to the surprise victory of Republican Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia governor’s race as proof. That race seemed to hinge on a gaffe in which former Governor Terry McCauliffe said “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

Prior to last year’s fall elections, the Inquirer reported on Martino and his PAC, quoting critics who said his efforts were bringing “toxic politics to the local level.” A story in Philadelphia was headlined, “Inside the Ridiculously Vicious and Increasingly Nasty Local Elections in Bucks County.”

A podcast from the New York Times highlighted Martino’s influence.

“It’s a lot of money, but what may be most new and noteworthy is that so much of the money sloshing around in these races is coming from one guy,” Times national correspondent Campbell Robertson said. “Typically, a lot of the money in school board races comes from small donors, though the local party will give some money to the teachers’ union sometimes. Well, this year, in Bucks County, just one local PAC had put $50,000 into the races in the county by mid-October. And almost all of that came from Martino.”

But at the Tuesday board meeting, Martino seemed clearly irked by how he thought campaign finances had been portrayed.

“I was not the source of dark money. My contributions were clearly marked,” he said. “It was the other team that was hiding the ball.”

This article first appeared in Broad and Liberty.