Penn Manor school board votes to contract with Independence Law Center

• By Ashley Stalnecker/LNP | LancasterOnline

Penn Manor became the latest school district in Lancaster County to add the religious rights law firm Independence Law Center as fee-free special counsel with a 5-4 vote by its board late Monday.

Board Vice President Nicki Nafziger and board members Anthony Lombardo, Matt Beakes, Frederick Herr and Donna Wert voted in favor of contracting with the firm, while board President Joseph Fullerton and board members Dell Jackson, Mitchell Sweigart and Christopher Straub voted against.

Beakes said the board would like to work with the law firm to develop athletic, student records and parental rights policies.

As part of the Independence Law Center contract, the law firm agrees to provide legal expertise as well as legal representation for student records, athletics and privacy policies. It also strongly advises Penn Manor to consult with the law firm prior to making any public statements regarding “the legal matter.”

The board heard from nearly 60 residents Monday during public comment – a majority of whom supported a contract with the Harrisburg-based law firm. More than 200 were in attendance at the meeting.

Those who supported the Independence Law Center cited a need for policies in light of recent federal updates to Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration added new protections for public school students based on sexual orientation and gender identity, part of an overhaul to the law that also added rights for victims of sexual assault on college campuses.

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked those expanded protections Friday.

“We taxpayers do not want you to comply with this Title IX update,” said resident Bob Ellis.

The board previously voted 5-4 against putting a contract with the Independence Law Center on its voting agenda in June. Discussion on contracting with the law firm resurfaced this month at the suggestion of Beakes – one of the June ‘no’ votes.

Penn Manor Superintendent Phil Gale had also cautioned the board against a potential contract with the law firm, both verbally at the board’s June meeting and in an emailed letter to the board and administrators that was obtained by the LNP | LancasterOnline through an open records request.

Gale and the board members who had voted against a contract with the law firm suggested developing policy with the district solicitor, the Lancaster city-based law firm Saxton & Stump, instead.

Those who are critical of the Independence Law Center have voiced concerns that the law firm guides school districts in drafting policies that are discriminatory toward LGBTQ+ students.

Public comment

Penn Manor parent Morgan Thomas said that the district partnering with the Independence Law Center would make an unsafe environment for LGBTQ+ students. She instead asked the board to start an open dialogue with the LGBTQ+ community to better understand and meet their needs.

“Partnering with the Independence Law Center will be a choice to destroy this community by choosing the lazy way out,” Thomas said.

Voices outspoken against the Independence Law Center are loud but do not represent the majority of Penn Manor residents who voted in the all-Republican nine-member board, said resident Kirk Whitworth.

“They intend to bully us into submission,” Whitworth said of those in opposition to the Independence Law Center.

Resident Steve Herr also encouraged the board to contract with the Independence Law Center because the firm specializes in First Amendment rights – an expertise he said the district needs right now.

“There should be no discrimination tied to this decision to work with the Independence Law Center to provide common sense policies to help our students define and achieve their academic and life goals,” Herr said in defense of the Independence Law Center.

Before beginning public comment, Fullerton said the board received well over 100 emails before Monday’s meeting.

“We appreciate the time and the effort that each of you has taken to weigh in on any and all matters of the district,” Fullerton said.

Rally

Prior to Monday’s school board meeting, at least 80 people gathered at a rally held behind the high school parking deck to urge the board against contracting with the Independence Law Center and to support LGBTQ+ students.

A majority of attendees raised a hand when one rally organizer asked for Penn Manor residents to identify themselves. However, two speakers at the rally came from neighboring communities.

“We’re speaking out because we know that there are people right now who can’t afford to,” rally organizer Leah Bacon said, while noting many in the LGBTQ+ community who were asked to speak Monday were afraid to.

Bacon said she is part of an informal coalition of Penn Manor residents including Malinda Harnish-Clatterbuck and Mark Clatterbuck who joined together to organize Monday’s rally. Bacon ran as a Democratic candidate for Penn Manor school board during the 2023 elections. Harnish-Clatterbuck and Clatterbuck’s son, Ashton Clatterbuck, died by suicide earlier this year.

Ashton Clatterbuck was a transgender man who had graduated from Penn Manor High School. Harnish-Clatterbuck described her son as someone who loved everyone, knew all the names of older homeless people downtown and left notes for people at work who had a bad day.

“How can someone so loved by so many people be such a threat to the cisgender majority?” Harnish-Clatterbuck asked the audience while speaking at the rally.

At the rally, 80 attendees signed a petition to urge the board against contracting with the Independence Law Center and instead create a task force of stakeholders to draft a policy that would protect transgender students.

“By threatening to bring in the Independence Law Center, our school board has declared war on us, on our families and on the safety of our children,” Harnish-Clatterbuck said at the rally.

Penn Manor SD – ILC Representation Agreement by Ashley Stalnecker on Scribd