Controversial pledge roils Southern Lehigh school board race

• By Sarah Mueller/LehighValleyNews.com

The candidates elected to the nine-seat Southern Lehigh School District school board this year could dramatically change the district’s tone on major social issues and what’s taught in the schools. This as five Republican candidates have signed a pledge to ban transgender students from using the bathroom of their choice and review the curriculum for “wokeness.”

There are currently 10 candidates running for five positions on the nine-seat board. School board directors serve unpaid four-year terms.

• Ten candidates are running for five seats on the Southern Lehigh School Board
• Five Republican candidates have signed a pledge about banning trans students from using the bathroom of their choice and reviewing curriculum for “wokeness”
• Some candidates say enacting such policies could lead to lawsuits

Melissa Torba, a long-time Center Valley resident with a daughter who attends fourth grade in the school district, is the only Democrat on the ballot. Four Republicans have been endorsed by the Southern Lehigh Community Partners PAC: incumbent school board Director Emily Gehman, Eric Boyer, Tim Kearney and Candi Kruse. The Southern Lehigh Grassroots PAC has endorsed Maria Schantz, Paul Deebel, Lance Tittle, Danelle Roy and James Pica.
Dividing people heading into the May 16th primary race is a pledge signed by candidates endorsed by the Southern Lehigh Grassroots PAC. They vowed to enact certain policies if elected, some of them controversial. Examples include requiring board members to vote to overturn what it said is the district’s “policy of hiding gender identity information from parents and guardians” and mandating school officials notify parents and guardians of previously withheld information. Under the pledge, board members would not require school staff to use students’ preferred pronouns. It also calls for a ban on “woke” politics and rejecting curriculum based on critical race theory, which could limit what is taught about certain historical events in the U.S., such as slavery.

Pica is one of the candidates endorsed by Southern Lehigh Grassroots Republicans who signed the pledge. He said one reason he was motivated to run for school board is his belief that parents are not being told if their children are going by different pronouns at school.

“I don’t want information about my kids being hidden from me,” he said. “I want to be involved in my kids’ academic careers because I think when parents are involved, children excel and that works for everything.”

Gehman, a parent and local business account, said she’s concerned the items in the pledge would violate state and federal laws and involve the district in litigation. An example she cites it four complaints filed against the Central Buck School District with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Some of the complaints involve allegations of discrimination against LGBTQ students and school-board-approved policies targeting gay and transgender students.

“I want to be a voice on the board to explain what we can accomplish as a community without writing policy that contradicts federal and state initiatives and policy,” she said. “And we can maintain Southern Lehigh as a small community that does what kids in our community need without making policy that’s going to put us on national headlines and lose us millions of dollars in legal fees.”

Eric Boyer works for PPL Electric Utilities and said he is active in his community. He said the charged political atmosphere is making some families think twice about moving into the school district. He said he doesn’t see how this pledge helps with that.

“It’s hard to believe that what was written in that would prosper a welcoming environment or a community-together-type environment,” he said.

Danelle Roy is a veteran and parent who works for St. Luke’s Health Network. She said one reason she signed the pledge was so voters could hold her accountable. She said she is also concerned about trans students using school bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, especially students who were assigned male at birth.

Candidates who signed the pledge and win a seat on the school board must propose and vote on a resolution at the first board meeting after the election requiring the school district to determine if it’s legal to prevent students from using bathrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identity. If it finds it is, board members who signed the pledge must then vote to ban trans students from using those facilities.

“The point is the safety of all the children,” Roy said. “We have girls in there that do not want to go to the bathroom because they’re afraid. Well, you shouldn’t go to school and have to be afraid. They will not go all day. Well, that’s not healthy either.”

Torba, who works in education, is the only Democrat is the race. She said she saw her father run for school board in the Whitehall-Coplay School District many years ago and not use a single yard sign to advertise his candidacy. She said she also thought that enacting parts of the pledge could led to lawsuits. Torba said if elected, she won’t be coming to the position with a pre-determined agenda.

“This is a four-year term of folks making decisions that not only affect our kids today, but down the road and our community,” she said. “And I fear that folks who could have a seat on the board would make decisions that would affect the funding here in Southern Lehigh and would affect the community and could deter folks from moving in, or businesses moving in? So, I advocate, get out there, learn a little bit, read about your candidates, try to talk to them if you can and exercise your right to vote.”

Kearney served more than 30 years as an educator in the Allentown School District. Kruse works in procurement and is active on several boards, including The Literacy Center, Women United, and the Southern Lehigh Public Library.

Schantz lives in Lower Milford Township and has a master’s and a doctoral degree. Deebel is a 14-year resident of Southern Lehigh, has two children in the district and works in the Aerospace industry. Tittle is a veteran and the former Auditor and Board Chairman for Lower Milford Township.

Attempts by LehighValleyNews.com to reach Kruse, Schantz, Deebel and Tittle for this story in time for publication were unsuccessful.

Current School Board President Mary Joy Reinartz, Secretary Nicole King, Treasurer Christopher Wayock and Director Stephen Maund are not up for re-election until 2025.