Central Bucks school board approves controversial Policy 321 for next phase
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Less than a week after the ACLU filed a federal complaint against the Central Bucks School District, dozens came out Tuesday's school board meeting. They showed their support for and against a policy that if approved, would limit a teacher's ability to display a pride flag inside their classroom.
The ACLU alleges the district has created a hostile environment for transgender students.
At the start of Central Bucks school board's meeting Tuesday night, Central Bucks School Board President Dana Hunter addressed the ACLU's federal complaint against the state's fourth-largest district alleging discrimination against LGBTQ+ students.
"I call on the ACLU to immediately provide its full complaint without redactions," Hunter said.
After that, public comment quickly turned heated as dozens of students, parents and community members debated Policy 321, centered around communication allowed in the classroom, including teachers displaying pride flags.
"These policies are discriminatory," CJ Weintraub, a student in the school district, said. "If pass these, you will be stripping trans and queer kids of the necessary autonomy over lives, our bodies and our identities."
Policy 321 is among several recent directives that have drawn national attention, including preferred pronouns and gender names without parental consent.
"You have promised to do your best to help us and yet, you've hurt us over and over," student Leo Burchell said. "It is a repeated pattern. It is not an accident. You tell us to report discrimination when we see it in our schools, you're the ones discriminating against trans students."
"To think there are teachers, administrators and board members who feel they know better what is needed for my child," parent Trisha Dobbler said.
The ACLU also alleges teachers have faced retaliation for speaking out. Several current and former CB educators attended Tuesday's meeting.
"What legacy are you leaving behind by enacting policy 321?" teacher Kevin McDermott said.
The board voted to approve Policy 321 for the next phase, a review -- it's called a second read -- and that will happen at the next board meeting scheduled for Nov. 15.