Guest Opinion: Pennridge School Board takes its cues from the radical right

Logan Phillips and Lyric Phillips
·2 min read
During an Aug. 1 meeting, Pennridge School Board President Joan Cullen questioned whether it was appropriate for teachers to wear rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ community. A student who is Christian might worry that the teacher wearing a rainbow flag does not like them, Cullen said.

Pennridge School District has gone rogue and is removing books using their moral compass — changing curriculum based on political views, encouraging not wearing masks because they believe masks are a political agenda, removing all DEI initiatives and implementing gender and LBGQ policy again based off their moral and political views.

Heather Has Two Mommies was written 30 years ago has been removed from our libraries and put in the guidance counselor's office. Many books are being reviewed and removed. Joan Cullen is our school board president. Joan was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and posted a picture and a political statement.

She is constantly using social media to try to gain attention and support for her political views. She tweets and shares horrific posts — anti-science, conspiracy theories, QAnon, gender and gay issues of all kinds.

School boards are not to be political and not to make rules to alienate the LGBTQ community because they think being gay is morally wrong.

The author of Heather Has Two Mommies — Lesléa Newman — is sickened her 30-year-old book has been removed from all Pennridge libraries. I emailed her and sadly she’d heard about Pennridge even before her book was removed. Cullen is trying to become famous by implementing policy and curriculum from radical right-wing, uneducated positions that have nothing to do with supporting our kids and teachers.

They want history to be taught that glorifies the U.S. starting in first grade and books removed, saying they make children feel guilty for being white. They have removed the DEI committee and initiatives. A new committee was formed called the ComUnity and it’s a joke.

The entire school board refuses to listen to teachers, guidance counselors, educators, doctors, science and anyone qualified to make curriculum, health and mental health decisions.

My 11-year-old wants to know why the adults want to go back to the 1950s and why they think inclusion means exclusion? Why should we not read about our history to be better? All I can say is to repeat what many have told her… living through this at a young age gives us hope for politics in the future. Her generation will right these wrongs.

Logan Phillips is a sixth grader at Pennridge Central Middle School. Lyric Phillips lives with her daughter Logan in Hilltown.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennridge School Board takes its cues from the radical right