New Majority Takes Office In Central Bucks, Votes To Suspend Policies

DOYLESTOWN, PA - The new school board majority, which officially took over the leadership of the Central Bucks School District on Monday night during a reorganization meeting, wasted little time in getting down to business.

Moments after being sworn in, the board voted to suspend a number of controversial policies instituted by the former Republican controlled board and to legally challenge a severance package approved by the outgoing board for former Superintendent Dr. Abram Lucabaugh.

The meeting opened with four new board members - Heather Reynolds, Rick Haring, Dana Foley and Susan Gibson - along with returning board member Karen Smith - taking the oath of office administered by Judge Jeffrey Finley.

Dana Foley from Region 3 takes the oath of office. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

Susan Gibson from Region 8 takes the oath of office.

Rick Haring from Region 6 takes the oath of office.

Heather Reynolds from Region 2 takes the oath of office.

As each incoming and returning board member finished the oath, loud applause, whistles and cheers of support swept through the meeting room.

The evening marked a major sea change in the makeup of the board which flipped from Republican to Democrat controlled with the reorganization meeting.

As its first order of business, the newly-seated board voted 7 to 2 to elect Smith as president and incumbent board member Dr. Mariam Mahmud as vice president. Both had served in the minority under the former board.

“Thank you for putting your trust in me. I do not take this job lightly. I feel it’s a very heavy responsibility and you have my word that I will do my best for everyone,” said Smith. “To my
supporters, I am so very thankful for you. For those of you who have challenged me, I will do all I can to hear your voices and your concerns.

“To our teachers, our support staff, our bus drivers, and all of our amazing staff, I am honored to represent you,” Smith continued. “And most importantly, to all of our students I am continuously impressed and inspired by you. You will remain my guiding force.”

Mahmud added, “The last few years have been challenging at best and it took a team of dedicated neighbors and community members to assure us, with this new board, that our kids have a secure education and a safe place at Central Bucks.”

After accepting the leadership gavel, Smith moved to amend the agenda to include four new motions, including the appointment of a board solicitor, the suspension of four controversial board policies adopted by the previous board, ending the board’s appeal of the redistricting map and taking legal action on the severance agreement with Dr. Lucabaugh.

Among the board’s first order of business was the appointment of David Conn as the board’s new solicitor. Conn replaces Jeffrey Garton who announced his resignation in November. Conn is with the law firm of Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams.

The new board also followed through with a number of campaign promises, voting to suspend four controversial policies passed by the previous board, including the textbook and library book policies, the neutrality policy, and the transgender athlete policy. The move brought loud cheers of support from the audience.

“We plan to work in committee to revise these policies and we want to take our time and hear from all stakeholders,” Smith told the public. “This suspension grants us the time. It is necessary to revise these policies as they are a contributing factor to the OCR (Office of Civil Rights) investigation.”

Mahmud noted, "The motion, in my eyes, is not meant to cause any dramatic changes for our school district but to assure strong educational opportunities and safe places. The policies are being suspended to make sure we are thoughtful and thorough and follow a process that prioritizes the inclusion of every student and their educational experience.

"Furthermore," said Mahmud, "vague language in these policies took opportunity away from students. For example, when a permission slip was needed to use an anatomy textbook because of language in a policy on classroom resource materials or when books recommended by the American Library Association were no longer made available to students in the library or from a minority author. These are just a few of the issues that we were left with with these policies and I think this is one of the important reasons to table them for now."

The board closed out its first meeting by motioning to end the board's appeal of the redistricting map. With the vote of the board, a new three region map ordered by a Montgomery County Judge will take effect with the next school board election with three board members being elected from each of the three new regions.

And in its final motion of the evening, the board authorized the administration and counsel to solicit legal action on a severance agreement approved by the previous board with former superintendent Dr. Abram Lucabaugh. Many have called the agreement excessive, while others have said it is well deserved.