Central Bucks School Board Approves New 9-Region Voting District Map

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks School Board has approved a new 9-region voting map aimed at equalizing the population in each region.

But it will be a judge in Montgomery County who will make the final decision between the district's 9-region map and a three-region map put forward by CBSD Fair Votes.

In January, lawyers for CBSD Fair Votes challenged the Central Bucks School District in court over its proposed update of the district’s nine-region voting plan. In its filling, Fair Votes put forward its own three-region voting plan for the 121,000-resident school district.

The judge in the case has said she would only consider the Fair Votes map and the school district's original nine-region map submitted last December.

The school district, however, has filed a motion asking the court to allow the district to amend its original petition to reflect the new voting map approved by the school board this month.

The school district is required to update its voting maps to reflect the 2020 U.S. Census numbers and address any population inequities between the regions.

The current map divides the district into nine voting regions, each of which selects one member to
the nine-member school board. The Fair Votes map would separate the district into three-regions with each region electing three members to the school board.

The board voted 6-3 to approve the committee's recommendation to stay with a 9-region configuration. Voting for a map created by resident Mara Witsen were Dana Hunter, Leigh Vlasblom, Debra Cannon, Sharon Collopy, Dr. James Pepper and Lisa Sciscio.

"I tried to go in with an open mind and listen to the advantages and disadvantages of the three regions," said the board's vice president Leigh Vlasblom, a member of the subcommittee. "I just found myself landing back on nine regions. It's what serves our district best. It's what we have always had and it allows a greater opportunity for each town to have a voice in the school district."

The 9-region voting district plan approved by the Central Bucks School Board this month.

Dr. Tabitha Dell'Angelo joined board members Karen Smith and Dr. Mariam Mahmud in favoring the Fair Votes map. All three called the Fair Votes map a fairer model for the district's residents.

Dell'Angelo pointed to hyper-partisanship as the board's biggest obstacle. "The map on the table tonight I'm afraid exacerbates that issue," she said. "The proposed map clearly favors one political party in each region, likely maintaining a 6-3 Republican majority on the board."

Historically, Dell'Angelo said the board has had Republican majorities, but said the atmosphere was less divisive and more collegial. "Our current reality is one where Republicans are set on maintaining power even though it is not the will of the populace," she said.

The current 9 region map, she said, resulted in Republicans winning the majority of the seats even though Democrats received more total votes.

Dell'Angelo argued that the benefit of a 3 region map would be that the board members in those regions "would have to work together, collaborate, and seek to understand the concerns of the larger region." She said in the three-region model members would be "motivated to know and understand the values, ideas and characteristics of more of their constituents. It's a model where board members would be encouraged to work together to find compromise and find solutions for all of those they serve.

"Everyone seems to be unhappy with the hyper-partisanship we've experienced," she said. "A map like this one will only make it worse," she said of the 9 region options. "This is a moment where we can commit to refocusing on the community and resisting the pull of partisanship, where we can say no to confirmation bias and instead say to each other, 'I see you. I'm learning from you. You belong.'"

Board member Sharon Collopy, who chaired the subcommittee, said her ideal plan would have been a combination of at-large and voting districts.

"But choosing between the 3 and 9, I go with nine," she said. "I go with nine because we are a large district. We have many students and we do a lot of things in this district to bring a large district down to a community level.

"I disagree that having three regions will have all singing Kumbaya," said Collopy in response to Dell'Angelo's comments. "This is my eighth year on the board and we used to get along. You used the word hyperpartisanship," she told Dell'Angelo. "That is too broad of a term to describe our bitter differences now. We were getting along. You couldn't even tell who belonged to which party.

"But then what happened? Two things. The first one was COVID with the lockdowns, restrictions and masks," said Collopy. "That's what started this. Unfortunately, there is lingering anger on both sides. But we are recovering.

"So we get the kids back in school and things go back to normal. And then all the sudden number two issue pops up. The sexualization of our children. That's where we disagree.

"It is not politics. It's not hyperpartisanship because these two issues do cross party lines," said Collopy. "There are Republicans who wanted every kid masked. There are democrats who do not think a pornographic image should even be in a high school let alone. I'm going with the nine. I like to do whatever we can to make it a little smaller."