Central Bucks School District has seen a lot of turnover within its school board over the past four years. The district has had five school board directors resign, and the school board president voted out of the position for failure to run the board properly. Since 2021, the district has also had five different superintendents running things.
Taxpayers and residents are tired of the partisan games school board representatives play. They are supposed to represent the community, not their political party. The Democratic-run board had a chance to model bipartisanship with the latest open seat to show the community they are not just playing politics with our children, but in true Democratic style, they appointed a Democrat. I am not surprised, but people who have just recently started to follow school board “politics” are as profoundly disappointed as they should be.
Recently, there was an open board seat in Region 5. Three people applied. Two Republicans and one Democrat. Both Republican candidates have lived in our district for many years and have given back to the community. The Democratic candidate moved to CBSD from Brooklyn three years ago. His primary qualification is having a “D” next to his name.
Taxpayers and stakeholders would think sitting school board representatives would do their due diligence and research the candidates. They clearly did not or didn’t care about what they found. After a quick Google search of the Democratic candidate’s name, his X (Twitter) account appeared. There are numerous tweets where he calls Republicans derogatory names, and he is very critical of their beliefs.
Currently, in the neighboring Souderton School District, Democrats are calling for the removal of a school board member because of a social media post. This did not deter our highly partisan board from even considering that picking a man with a checkered social media past may be a bad idea.
The six Democrats (Rick Harring was absent) picked a Democrat who has only lived in our district for three years and clearly does not care for Republicans over well-qualified Republican candidates who have connections to our community.
It is a sad day for everyone, most of all our children. I am sure parents will be watching how this man treats parents with a different political affiliation, considering he has made his opinions very clear on social media.
Another grave concern our local media has neglected to write about is the board solicitor David Conn, who works for Sweet Stevens Katz and Williams. His legal work has recently caused a judge to issue monetary legal sanctions against the district.
Will taxpayers be held liable for paying for his? Recently, the board asked for an RFP (request for proposals) to obtain a new law firm. Will the Democratic board pick a new firm or continue to employ this lawyer? Currently, we have two experienced lawyers on our board. Board Member Susan Gibson should know better than to use a lawyer who has cost the district money and has given incorrect legal advice in the past.
Hopefully, the board can see past their politics, do the right thing for the parents and taxpayers, and appoint a new solicitor.
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