Democrats flip school board majority in 3 Pennsylvania districts
The three newly flipped districts had been criticized for controversial decisions under conservative leadership.
PENNSYLVANIA (WPVI) -- Democrats will be taking control of school boards in three suburban Philadelphia districts that have made headlines in recent months for passing policies championed by Republican board members.
In the Central Bucks School District, Democrats were previously the school board minority, losing out 6-3.
Now, they're the majority by that same margin as Democrats flipped a board that created controversy with its conservative policies.
Central Bucks isn't the only school district to see a major change after this recent election.
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"People just said this is enough," said Jane Cramer about the election results.
Cramer is a parent in the Pennridge School District and a member of The Ridge Network, a group formed by residents concerned about school board issues.
Democrats took all of the open seats in Pennridge to win the majority on the school board after previously having a conservative majority.
"It just says that parents can do something," said Cramer.
Pennridge is one of three school districts to see the conservative majority ousted in favor of Democrats. Two other school districts that also changed are Perkiomen Valley and Central Bucks, where Dana Foley and Heather Reynolds are among the five Democrats who ran together and won all five school board seats.
"It felt like there was a real focus on culture wars and divisive policy and a complete shift away from anything that was an actual problem in our district," said Foley, the newly-elected Region 3 Director of the Central Bucks School District.
A year ago, Foley says she was simply the room mom for her daughter's class but was motivated to be part of the change.
It's a change that experts like Drexel Educational Administration Program Director Michael Kozak, EdD (Doctor of Education) have been watching.
"I thought the races were going to be close, but I'm not surprised," he said of the flipped school boards.
Kozak says school board races have gotten a lot more political.
"People have grown tired of national organizations pushing their agenda in the local school board elections," he said.
The three newly flipped districts had been criticized for controversial decisions under conservative leadership. Perkiomen Valley recently passed a bathroom policy that opponents say was anti-trans.
READ | Perkiomen Valley school board passes controversial bathroom policy
Central Bucks and Pennridge passed policies that prohibited teacher advocacy, which prevented teachers from doing things like displaying Pride flags.
Pennridge also got rid of its Diversity Equity and Inclusion program and enacted what some say were book bans.
"They were sneaky about taking the books out of the library," said Cramer.
One conservative majority is staying as voters in the Souderton School District kept Republicans in all five seats that were up for grabs.
"We look forward to moving beyond the election to focus on the kids of this community, deliver on our team's vision, and bring everyone together to keep Souderton strong," board members said in a joint statement to Action News.
In the districts where there is change, the work now begins.
"Now we're faced with the challenge as board members to try to bridge that gap," said Foley.
Cramer says parents in the three districts that saw change helped each other with different types of voter outreach, like on social media.
Kozak says that even with the new school boards in place, the conservative policies of the previous board won't just disappear. There's a lengthy process to making the changes.
