Parents Raise Concerns Over Pennsbury’s Diversity & Equity Work

A large group of upset Pennsbury School District parents attended Thursday evening’s school board meeting to raise concerns about a focus on diversity and equity.

The meeting, which was heated at times, came as the district is working to set a path forward that focuses on equity and diversity in the school system of roughly 10,200 students. The district is exploring curriculum options, the addition of programming, and steps to improve diversity among staff.

Among the student population, about 76 percent are white, 7 percent are Asian, 7 percent are Black, 5 percent are of mixed race, 4 percent are Hispanic/Latino, and .5 percent are American Indian or Pacific Islander, according to data released last year.

Administrator Dr. Cherrissa Gibson was appointed last summer to serve as the district’s first director of equity, diversity, and education. She presented an equity audit to the school board in May. The review was set to “serve as the foundation of all decision-making to ensure equitable outcomes for every learner.” It called for examining courses and content offered to students to educate them about the wide variety of diverse cultures, something critics have said the mainstream American educational system has failed at over the years.

The school board passed Board Policy 832, which is titled “Educational Equity” in May. While the policy that went along with the audit talked about curriculum, it did not set a specific content requirements, aside from materials that promote equality and respect, contributions and prospective of a diverse society, and create culturally responsive teacher practices.

“The Educational Equity policy establishes equity as the foundation of all Pennsbury School District processes. The Board Policy underscores a shared commitment for the entire school community to approach every decision, practice, and policy with an equity lens in the collaborative effort to close the achievement and opportunity gaps for students,” according to a letter sent to parents from School Board President Christine Toy-Dragoni and the superintendent.

Many speakers at meeting took aim at “critical race theory,” also known as CRT. The theory is a broad concept that isn’t well defined and not specifically mentioned in Pennsbury’s current equity and diversity efforts.

The issue has become a hot button topic among conservative cable TV and radio host, along with conservative websites and social media accounts. Some states have proposed and passed legislation banning so-called critical race theory materials in schools.

U.S. News & World Report offered the following explanation on critical race theory:

Critical race theory traces its origins to a framework of legal scholarship that gained momentum in the 1980s by challenging conventional thinking about race-based discrimination, which for decades assumed that discrimination on the basis of race could be solved by expanding constitutional rights and then allowing individuals who were discriminated against to seek legal remedies. However, some legal scholars pointed out that such solutions – though well-intentioned – weren’t effective because, they argued, racism is pervasive and baked into the foundation of the U.S. legal system and society as a whole.

Today, critical race theory is used by academic scholars – and not just in law schools – to describe how racism is embedded in all aspects of American life, from health care to housing, economics to education, clean water to the criminal justice system and more. Those systems, they argue, have been constructed and protected over generations in ways that give white people advantages – sometimes in ways that are not obvious or deliberately insidious but nonetheless result in compounding disadvantages for Black people and other racial and ethnic minorities.

Many Americans, especially white people, believe racism is the product of intentionally bad and biased individuals, but critical race theory purports that racism is systemic and is inherent in much of the American way of life, no matter how far removed we are today from its origins.

Jennifer Spillane, a Pennsbury school board candidate from Lower Makefield Township, spoke before the school board and said she was among concerned parents “standing up against critical race theory.” 

“You may not be calling it critical race theory … but we are not fooled,” she said.

Jane Moore, of Falls Township, told the board that she is of the Christian faith. She said the tenets of her religion are “diametrically opposed” critical race theory. She said she believes it would be using racism to fight racism.

Lower Makefield resident Doug Marshall asked the school board to reconsider their efforts to look at diversity and race. He noted there has been a tragic failure with race relations in the past, but he said it wouldn’t be right to ignore the progress made.

Marshall asked the community and school board to move forward in a new direction with a community conversation.

Joanne Mastriana, a retired teacher from Lower Makefield Township, called the district’s focus on equity and diversity “radical” and claimed it misrepresents American history.

“I did not want our history to be written post-facto. Nor do I want it written through the lens of any other culture, individual, socialists, or activists. I do not wish to give credence to a skewed version of history that has been concocted to bash predecessors,” she said. “Why should the negatives be highlighted ad nauseam?”

Mastriana said she is fine with the history of slavery being taught, but it should be a lesson to inform students to not let it ever happen again.

Mastriana spoke until her allotted five minutes of time was up. She called for more time, but solicitor Michael Clarke told her she could return to her seat or be removed. The retired teacher eventually returned to her seat.

Gail Marshall, a Lower Makefield Township resident, raised concern with the school board about some of the books suggested in a link on the school district website. She said many were appropriate, but ones called “White Trash” and “White Rage” worried her.

“Where are the books on patriotism, the founding fathers, the American flag, books that celebrate what a great country America is. But it’s certainly not without its flaws. It’s a country that guarantees freedoms that no other country does,” she said.

Marshall also raised concern that some suggested books were on the topic of transgender youth.

“It is the school’s job to educate, not indoctrinate,” she said. “Teach our kids how to think, not what to think.”

Toward the end of meeting, Lower Makefield Township resident Tim Daly was removed from the meet at the solicitor’s orders after he called out.

Outgoing Pennsbury Superintendent Dr. William Gretzula, who has been accused of discrimination himself by former administrators, said the district is being transparent as they formulate efforts to focus on equity and diversity.

Gretzula told residents that major curriculum changes go through committees to administrators and then the school board.

“Our community has tried to label our curriculum work as indoctrination through CRT, critical race theory. We have always said this is about kids seeing themselves in the curriculum. This is not about dividing the kids, putting them in a box, separating them” he said, adding the work was focused on presenting the full picture.

“The language that I hear tonight is not the language we’ve spoken,” he said. “It’s the language people have chosen to represent our work.”

Editor’s Note: Resident Jane Moore’s comment have been clarified from a previous version of this article.

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