PHILADELPHIA – The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the law firm Ramsingh Legal, PLLC, filed a lawsuit today asking a federal court to stop the Souderton Area School District from banning two parents and one former student from school property in retaliation for criticizing a school board member who posted lewd comments about Vice President Kamala Harris on social media.
The lawsuit claims that, in addition to banning individuals from school property, Souderton Area School District prohibited members of the community group Souderton Area for All from holding demonstrations on school property and required individuals to show photo identification to be admitted to school board meetings, in violation of the First Amendment.
"Souderton Area For All believes in the District's motto that 'Character Counts,' and we want to hold school officials accountable when they engage in offensive behavior," said Stephanie Jamison, SAFA chair. 'The school board's efforts to silence its critics teaches students the wrong lesson about democracy."
The comments by Souderton school board member Bill Formica sparked outrage among many district residents in August, leading to a packed middle school auditorium and a protest calling for Formica’s resignation.
District officials told protesters they could not hold their demonstration on school property and instead had to stand on the side of the road. Meanwhile, the district allowed Formica’s supporters to gather near the school entrance, where they prayed and sang religious songs.
Although attendance at the September school board meeting remained high, the district moved the meeting back to its regular location, which holds far fewer people. As a result, the district required individuals wishing to attend to present photo identification. Two of the plaintiffs were not allowed into the meeting because they did not have ID with them.
One of the plaintiffs not admitted to the meeting, along with her father and another parent of a student in the district, confronted school board member Kim Wheeler in the parking lot after the meeting, asking why the board allowed Formica to continue serving given his offensive comments. Two weeks later, they received letters from the district’s solicitor, threatening them with arrest for trespassing if they entered school property and requiring them to provide advance notice and remain in their vehicles when they drop off or pick up their children from school.
“The Souderton Area School District has engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to silence its critics,” said Sara Rose, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Banning parents and a recent graduate from school property without any due process to punish them for calling for a board member’s resignation is an egregious example of this behavior.”
Today’s lawsuit follows an earlier Sunshine Act case filed by Joy Ramsingh on behalf of some district residents against the district over the photo identification requirement. Although the school district dropped the ID requirement after that case was filed, the possibility that the ID requirement could resurface continues to threaten the public’s right to speak at school board meetings.
“The combination of the ID requirement and the ban from school property sends a clear message: if you speak out, you’ll face consequences,” said Emily Morgan of Ramsingh Legal, PLLC, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in this case. “This lawsuit is about making sure that everyone can participate in school board meetings without fear or intimidation.”
The lawsuit also asks the court to immediately order the school district to rescind the ban on the parents and former student and allow them to attend school board meetings and other events on school property and to permit SAFA to hold demonstrations on school property prior to school board meetings.
You can read the full legal filing at aclupa.org/Souderton.
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