Columns Criticize Central Bucks’ LGBT Policies, Proposed Library Rules

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — As the school year winds down, discussion still swirls around possible new library policies at Central Bucks Schools, as well as recent changes in the district that LGBTQ+ students and allies say are discriminatory.

In separate columns this week, a local newspaper editor said the district is teetering on the edge of unconstitutional censorship, and a former Central Bucks student said they left the district after feeling unsupported and being bullied.

As of Friday afternoon, Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh has not responded to Patch’s request for comment.

School Board 'Greasing Up' A 'Slippery Slope'

The district's Board of Directors is considering adopting new policies about library books, classroom materials, and other resources that students have access to. Some parents are concerned that certain books in Central Bucks libraries are too sexually graphic, or too mature in theme, for students. Others are firm in their convictions that the proposed policies tread on students’ Constitutional rights.

You can read more about the proposed policies here.

Bucks County Beacon Editor Cyril Mychalejko spoke with the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s legal director last week, he said. The director, Witold Walczak, told him that certain parts of the proposed policy create “an expressway to unconstitutional censorship,” Mychalejko said.

The proposed policies set content standards for classroom and library materials, establish rules for how new books are selected, and give parents a path to challenge books they feel are inappropriate. One of these policies would remove books with "explicit written descriptions" or any visual depiction of sexual acts from all Central Bucks School District libraries.

The Education Law Center of Pennsylvania also sent a letter to the board, as Mychalejko said, asking the board to reject the proposed library policies. Several other groups have criticized the policies, too.

Mychalejko said the proposed guidelines are ”vague” and “problematic.” There “is already precedent for this slippery slope the school board is greasing up,” he said.

“It’s going to take ongoing spirited turnout from librarians, teachers, parents, and students to act as roadblocks in order to guide the Central Bucks School District to exit the ‘expressway to unconstitutional censorship’ that it is currently paving,” Mychalejko wrote.

'Hostile Environment' For LGBTQ+ Students

Student Requis Sherby, of Doylestown said they never felt comfortable at Tohickon Middle School after coming out as bisexual and nonbinary.

“It wasn’t easy being an LGBTQ student at Central Bucks,” they said.

Sherby said their friends and family were supportive. But teachers and other students misgendered Sherby, referring to them as a girl repeatedly, Sherby said. And in eighth grade, some students started a false rumor that Sherby used the boys' bathroom.

“I never felt like teachers and staff would defend me against attacks from other students,” Sherby, a sophomore at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School of the Arts, wrote in their column. “When we switched to remote learning because of the pandemic, part of me was relieved. I needed a break from this unwelcoming environment.”

Several issues have arisen that involve Central Bucks’s LGBTQ+ student body, as well as staff. The Education Law Center of PA said Central Bucks “has created a hostile environment for LGBTQ students.”

Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh outlined many of these in a lengthy letter posted May 17.

Some Central Bucks West students also spoke up at an April board meeting and said the administration told them the musical "Rent" was too controversial for them to perform, as the Bucks County Herald and other media outlets have reported.

Lucabaugh said reports that "the district does not support anything related to homosexuality and other themes portrayed in the show" were untrue in his letter. The musical has been approved.

Parents and students accused the district of excluding transgender and non-binary elementary students from health curriculums earlier in May, WHYY reported. The district had asked counselors to put students in the “Human Growth and Development” course based on their assigned sex at birth, not their gender identity.

The district later clarified that they made virtual, optional lessons available for all students.

The district has banned teachers from displaying pride flags in their classrooms, Lucabaugh said.

“The flags, once thought to be a statement of support, are now a flashpoint for controversy and divisiveness in our school buildings,” Lucabaugh said.

School board member Karen Smith told Patch she did not support this decision.

"We need to do all we can to support these students," she said.

Parents and students at Lenape Middle School claim that teacher Andrew Burgess was placed on leave because of his support of LGBTQ+ students at the school, which the district denies. The week of May 9, Lenape students protested the district’s decision to put Burgess on leave. These protests culminated in what Lucabaugh called “chaos” during lunchtime on May 13.

Additionally, as WHYY's Emily Rizzo reported, Lenape Middle School principal Geanine Saullo is firm that students’ names and genders, as they appear in the school database, will be the names that appear on end-of-year awards and certificates. This affects trans and non-binary students, whose preferred names may not be in the database.

Board member Smith made a lengthy statement in front of the board of directors in May, questioning district policy on the pride flags, students' preferred names, and Burgess' leave.

"We have a responsibility to be inclusive and welcoming to all students," Smith said. "We have a responsibility to understand all the types of students in our schools. It is a fact that LGBQT, transgender and gender non-conforming students exist in our schools."

Sherby said they are much happier after leaving Central Bucks.

"How many other students and staff have to leave their schools before districts realize how important it is to make every student — no matter who they are — feel safe at school?"

Sherby said districts need to let LGBTQ students "be who they are."

The Central Bucks School District, which has more than 17,000 students, is the third-largest in Pennsylvania and serves students in nine Bucks County municipalities.

Related coverage:

• Book Criteria Criticized In Proposed Central Bucks Library Policy
• Central Bucks Library Policy Would Remove Books With Sexual Content
• 'Chaos,' Death Threat To Lenape Middle School Principal: CBSD Official