ACLU says Pennsylvania school district fueled anti-LGBTQ climate at high school, files federal complaint

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal complaint against a Pennsylvania school district, alleging it discriminated against LGBTQ high school students. The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education. 

Key Players

The Central Bucks School District (CBSD), the fourth-largest in Pennsylvania, includes Central Bucks High School West (CB West), a public high school for grades 10-12. It is located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of Philadelphia. In the 2020 presidential election, the city leaned Democratic, with 51.5% of residents voting for President Joe Biden. 

Dana Hunter serves as the president of the CBSD. 

The American Civil Liberties Union Pennsylvania (ACLU) is a local chapter of the ACLU. A nonprofit organization founded in 1920, the ACLU serves “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.” 

The U.S. Department of Justice enforces the federal laws of the United States, encompassing multiple agencies. As civil rights complaints can be filed directly to the department, its Civil Rights Division enforces laws protecting people from discrimination at work and school, as well as other issues, like housing and voting. 

The U.S. Department of Education establishes policy on federal financial aid for education, collects data on American public schools, and advises the president on key educational issues, policies, and reform. 

Key Details 

On Oct. 6, 2022, on behalf of seven students, the ACLU filed a federal complaint, alleging CBSD violated Title IX and the 14th Amendment by creating a “hostile environment” for LGBTQ students, WHYY reported. 

Discriminatory policies increased bullying targeted at LGBTQ students, the ACLU said, identifying various consequences including transgender students being afraid to eat in the cafeteria, as well as a former student, who is transgender, attempting suicide. 

The complaint asked the Deparment of Education to order CBSD to “rescind its discriminatory policies and directives,” take additional measures “to eliminate the hostile environment for LGBTQ+ students,” and follow federal guidelines on how to support transgender and gender-nonconforming students. It was filed after a five-month investigation by the Pennsylvania branch of the ACLU, which uncovered a “toxic educational environment for LGBQ&T students” following the election of school board members in 2021. 

Interviews with dozens of students, family members, community stakeholders, and current and former teachers revealed an environment “exacerbated by homophobic and transphobic actions” adopted by the school board and administrators, the ACLU said. Such actions included book censorship, the removal of pride flags as inappropriate “political symbols,” and “deadnaming” transgender students, or referring to a trans person’s previous name. 

Other practices included intimidating, censoring, and punishing teachers who spoke out against anti-LGBTQ directives. For instance, Andrew Burgess, a middle school teacher, was suspended after he helped a transgender student file a federal complaint about bullying, WHYY reported. 

At separate school board meetings in May and June 2022, students attempted to call attention to the harm the policies had caused them. CBSD stood by its policies in a letter to community members. 

On Sept. 14, CBSD further affirmed its policies by proposing revisions to include discussions of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” as “taking sides” and as “political,” a move the ACLU condemned as “discriminatory.” 

Outcome 

CBSD asks the ACLU to release unredacted complaint 

CBSD asked the ACLU to reveal the identities of the seven students, as their names were redacted in the complaint. Hunter said the redacted names made it “impossible” for the district to “intervene” in bullying.  

The ACLU, however, said students’ names were omitted to prevent retaliation by CBSD. 

CBSD hires former U.S. Attorney and federal prosecutor 

On Nov. 15, the CBSD voted to hire William McSwain, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Nominated by former President Donald Trump, McSwain ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, but lost the Republican primary. 

CBSD also hired Michael Rinaldi, the former deputy chief of the economic crimes unit, also in the Eastern District, the Bucks County Courier Times reported. 

As of Jan. 5, 2022, there were no further developments.