The Central Bucks School District is one of the wealthiest school systems in Pennsylvania. That will come in handy since the district is paying a lawyer $940 an hour to defend a federal complaint of its own making.
Whether any school district lawyer is worth nearly $1,000 an hour is a separate matter. The bigger issue is how Central Bucks is wasting taxpayers' money because of the hostile environment that the complaint charges it has created for LGBTQ students.
The complaint against the school district was the result of a four-month investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. The ACLU interviewed dozens of Central Bucks students, family members, current and former teachers, school staff and community stakeholders.
What emerged from those interviews was "a toxic educational environment for LGBTQ students." To make matters worse, the trauma and pain inflicted on the students have been "exacerbated by homophobic and transphobic actions and polices taken recently by the school board and upper-level administrators," the ACLU found.
As a result of the findings, the ACLU sued the Central Bucks School District on behalf of seven students, alleging "a widespread culture of discrimination against LGBTQ students, particularly transgender and nonbinary students."
Central Bucks School District paying McSwain $940 an hour to investigate alleged anti-LGBTQ bias
The 72-page complaint is heartbreaking to read.
One student has been eating lunch in the bathroom this year to avoid a bully. In 2019, one trans student attempted suicide after "relentless anti-transgender bullying." The specific allegations and names of the seven students have been redacted to protect them from further bullying and harassment.
The complaint alleged the Central Bucks administration and school board have been "aware of a hostile environment for LGBTQ students in general, and transgender students in particular" for several years.
Indeed, Superintendent Abe Lucabaugh acknowledged the bullying at a school board meeting in May when he said: "A successful day (for LGBTQ students) is getting through the day and not being harassed, not being outed by someone. A successful day is getting through the hallway without somebody sending a slur their way, or trying to marginalize them. A really successful day, ironically, would be if a student hurled an insult or a slur their way and an adult stepped up and said, 'No, we're not doing that.'"
The complaint only gets worse from there.
Not only are LGBTQ students bullied, but school district officials have historically been "indifferent" toward their plight. Even worse, the district has become "overtly discriminatory and hostile" toward them, the ACLU says.
Keep in mind these adults are charged with keeping students safe. But instead of teaching tolerance and acceptance, the Central Bucks School District has essentially launched a crusade against LGBTQ students.
School district officials have targeted teachers who intercede. One middle school teacher who was seen as an advocate for LGBTQ students was suspended and escorted from the building in the middle of the school day, according to the complaint. The suspension apparently had a chilling effect, as some teachers declined to speak with the ACLU out of fear of reprisal.
The hostile environment has worsened since the election of new school board members in November 2021, the ACLU found. (Sadly, school boards have become politicized and radicalized, largely by conservative-driven culture wars.)
The complaint detailed several new policies Central Bucks adopted over the last year, such as banning Pride flags in classrooms, prohibiting teachers from using preferred names and pronouns unless the student has parental consent, and various efforts to remove books with LGBTQ-themed content.
Over the summer, the school board adopted policies aimed at removing library books and textbooks that contain "sexualized content."
Last week, the school board proposed a squirrelly new plan that tries to circumvent the direct attack on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity." But the new policy appears worse in that it eliminates those references but broadens the crackdown on free expression to include flags, banners, posters or other items "concerning any partisan, political, or social policy issue."
What is going on in the Central Bucks School District is an appalling disregard for LGBTQ students, and appears to be gender-based discrimination and a civil rights violation. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Education has launched its own investigation.
But Central Bucks students need help now. It is difficult enough for any student to find their way through the awkward years of middle and high school. The challenges are made even more stressful by social media and the pandemic.
The struggles are compounded for LGBTQ students who may feel isolated. The Central Bucks School District made matters worse by turning on LGBTQ students and leaving them at risk of further bullying — or worse.
The best outcome would be for the school board members and administrators who have failed to protect and support the LGBTQ students to be replaced immediately.
In the meantime, Central Bucks taxpayers should demand the school district stop wasting nearly $1,000 an hour on overpriced lawyers to defend the indefensible.
