Students at Central York join statewide battle against 'extremist' takeovers at schools

At a press conference to announce the formation of a coalition to fight back against book bans and bathroom and athletic policies targeting transgender students, speaker after speaker referred to Central York School District as ground zero.

Central was at the vanguard of the movement to ban books, an effort that led in last fall’s election to voters in the district electing a slate of board members inspired by resisting efforts to ban books. 

“We’re hoping it will never happen in our district again,” Tristan Doud, a senior at Central York High School and co-president of the school’s Panther Anti-Racist Union, said during the press conference Tuesday afternoon.

To that end, Tristan and others involved in resisting efforts to remove books from school libraries, restrict sports and bathrooms for transgender students and to protect LGBTQ students from harassment and bullying have joined to form Pennsylvanians for Welcoming and Inclusive Schools, going by the acronym PAWInS, an organization dedicated to helping parents and students fight against what the group describes as an “extremist” takeover of public schools.

The objective of the group – which traces its roots to the Central York book ban and the students’ effort to reverse it three years ago – is to provide parents and students with the resources to report issues and support to push back against social conservatives’ efforts to mold school policies.

These issues aren’t exclusive to Pennsylvania, they said, and by sharing information they can hope to combat efforts to squelch free speech and stop harassment of gay and transgender students. “We’re working with the group to share information, so everybody knows what’s happening,” said Ronna Dewey, Pennsylvania program director for the Red Wine & Blue advocacy organization. The goal being to create “safe, welcoming and inclusive schools.”

Tristan first became involved in the issue in 2021 when a list of books that the school board wanted removed from the library was released publicly. Among the books, he pointed out, was a children’s book about Rosa Parks. “It was ‘I Am Rosa Parks,’” he said. “There was no reason to throw that book out of the library.”

He joined protests, and as older students graduated, he moved into a leadership position, organizing students to attend school board meetings and protest the board’s efforts to restrict access to books that may offend some parents. Those books, which dealt with issues from race to sexual identity, are important to young people who are trying to find their way in the world, he said.

The protests at Central garnered national and international attention. Students from Central testified before a Congressional committee looking into the issue. And, last November, voters in Central rejected candidates running on platforms that supported “parental rights,” code for banning books and adopting policies that discriminate against transgender and gay students, and elected board members in concert with the protesters’ concerns.

Patricia Jackson, a language arts teacher at Central, said she spoke to an African American mother who appeared before the school board and lodged her concerns about book bans, to no avail. She told Jackson she had to find out about the board’s decisions on the news and that she believed the board was making decisions “not in the best interests of her children.” She told board members that she would “see them at the ballot box.”

That may be a result of PAWInS efforts, but it is not the focus. Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, said the group is not involved in politics, that it exists to assist students and parents who are fighting against efforts to ban books, adopt bathroom policies for transgender students and that discriminate against gay students. (Such policies include ignoring students’ preference for pronouns or reporting such preferences to school administrators.)

More: on Central Students who led protests against Central York book ban are publishing a book about it

More about the book ban: Central York Supt. contacted lawyer with firm that advises on controversial school issues

But in that realm, some in Central believe they can provide some lessons for activists in other districts.

“Central York, in 2020, was ground zero for the kind of extremism that’s spread across the country,” said Ben Hodge, who teaches acting and theater acts at the high school.

Jackson, who, in addition to teaching language arts at Central, is a published author, said there has been a “calming of the storm” since the election of the new school board.

But, she warned, “There are three other neighboring districts where things are warming up. If they don’t see what happened in our district and what’s going to happen in their districts, well, thoughts and prayers.”

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Central York students join battle against 'extremist' takeovers