Silent Protest at Souderton Area School Board Meeting Wed. Oct. 9

The Save Souderton Coalition continues to encourage Souderton Area School District residents to attend board meetings to seek resolution to the Souderton Area School Board controversy surrounding board member William Formica. The Coalition came together more than two months ago in response to that controversy. It is only one collection of local people concerned about school board issues. Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership has also been an important voice and source of information. And many people have attended meetings who are not affiliated with any group.

The school district board and administration has only issued one formal, written response to the controversy in early August expressing disagreement with one social media comment made by Mr. Formica and requesting that the community give them time to process. Many local residents are frustrated by more than two months of processing and what appear to be attempts to limit public discussion of Mr. Formica’s pattern of opinions and beliefs. The board’s silence suggests to many that they sit in solidarity with Mr. Formica and perhaps do not disapprove of his views. Many residents continue to believe strongly that someone who does not share community values of respect for teachers, respect for minorities and immigrants, respect for LGBTQ neighbors, respect for diversity and inclusion, and rejection of violence cannot be trusted to make good decisions about what is best for all the children of our community..

People calling for Mr. Formica to resign recognize that there is no formal procedure by which the rest of the board can require a board member to step down from his position. Former board member and lawyer Victor Verbeke, in a letter to the Bucks County Beacon on Sept. 23, however, has clearly laid out the rationale for how and why the board can censure Mr. Formica.

Since the controversy came into wide public view by actions at the Aug.14 committee meeting, the district appears to have attempted to curtail public discussion by limiting the number of people who could speak at the Aug. 29 meeting, by not allowing rallies of residents outside meeting places to protest, by initiating armed police ID checks at the Sept. 11 meeting, and by leaving a large number of people outside the building unable to attend or speak at the Sept. 26 meeting.

The Save Souderton Coalition is encouraging residents who continue to wish to see a satisfactory response to the Formica controversy to sit in respectful and silent protest at Wednesday’s committee meeting, so that the committee work can take place, and to turn out in large numbers again to voice their opinions at the October 24 Action Meeting.