PASD Meeting Ends With Call For Board Member Resignation: Updated

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — A workshop meeting session of the Phoenixville Area School Board ended with public comments, one calling for the resignation of Dr. Ayisha Sereni, after a tense exchange in which the board president repeatedly called for order.

The disordered exchange arose during discussion of finance committee business. Sereni raised questions that Board President Blake Emmanuel said were properly discussed in committee meetings, rather than in the workshop meeting.

Sereni said she was being silenced, and continued to speak her questions on three separate occasions after board member Laura Reed called "point of order."

Emmanuel cited Robert's Rules of Order, explaining that the discussions that take place in a workshop meeting are specifically to prepare for voting items that will come up at the next full voting meeting. Committee meetings are the setting where business of all kinds can be discussed, Emmanuel said.

The meeting's agenda called for a period of public comment at the beginning and at the end of the meeting. In the second comment period, the comment that had been sent during the course of the meeting was read. It stated that Dr. Sereni should resign from the school board, and that her actions in the meeting displayed a lack of interest in the students of the district.

The commenter said she has four children in the district and thanked teachers and staff for their hard work during very challenging times. She also thanked administration for continuing instruction virtually. Then she turned to the matter of board member Sereni.

"I'd like to ask that Dr. Sereni resign. Her behavior at this and prior meetings keeps bringing to light her disinterest in our children She keeps breaking the order of the board meetings and forgets how to be a respectable board member," the comment read.

Then, the commenter addressed Sereni directly. "Dr. Sereni, please find another place where your constant interrupting and disrespect is accepted."

"Bravo to all the other board members who are civil. You represent our community. Thank you," the public comment ended.

The video of the meeting posted on Tuesday evening and a written transcript of public comment is not made available to media, so the name of the commenter is not clear enough for Patch to publish.

A link to video of the Sept. 14 workshop meeting can be found here. This comment begins approximately 2 hours and 14 minutes into the meeting.

The Phoenixville Area School Board meets on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.