The Upper Adams School Board is considering hiring the Independence Law Center, a conservative law firm that’s drawn criticism across the state for its controversial policies.
The Independence Law Center, or ILC, has faced backlash for its policies related to transgender issues and book restrictions in schools. Several Pennsylvania school districts have engaged with the Harrisburg-based law firm.
The ILC describes itself as a firm that “defend[s] human life at all stages and defend[s] the rights of the people to freely exercise their religion, as well as all the other First Amendment freedoms that depend on that first freedom,” according to its website.
Roughly a dozen members of the public attended the Upper Adams School Board meeting Tuesday, and three spoke against board member Loren Lustig’s proposal to retain the ILC.
Community member Margaret Elliott was among those who stood in opposition to the ILC.
“They have been active in creating policies which will discriminate against students and staff and introduce regulations to create censorship,” Elliott said. “The Independence Law Center is paid by radical so-called Christian groups, like the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Their tax records indicate funds from these groups are funneled to the Independence Law Center in order to stop public school policy, and advance radical religious policies in secular institutions.”
Parent Katie Schroeder suggested the ILC does not work for “free,” but to further the political agendas of those who support it financially.
Lustig said the ILC advertises its services as being offered “pro bono.”
Rachel Elliott spoke on behalf of a group of community members and parents known as Upper Adams Community Cares. She expressed concern that the needs of all students are being lost on board members pursuing their “personal political agendas.”
“Policies are seemingly being revised and rewritten by a single board member, Mr. Lustig,” Rachel Elliott said.
Lustig, who attended the meeting virtually, said he believed the ILC would be a “valuable asset” to the school board.
“I have been extremely impressed with their knowledge and wise counsel, especially concerning issues related to the First Amendment rights of the United States Constitution,” he said.
‘Conservative values’
Board member Marya Djalal said she first reached out to the ILC in November when she had questions about her ability to “move forward” on the school board.
Djalal said she would like to see the district retain the ILC in addition to its current legal counsel, Stock & Leader. She suggested ILC would help the district write clearer policies.
“No one is talking about letting go of Stock & Leader,” Djalal said, “but I would feel more comfortable having someone who really specializes in First Amendment issues and who understands conservative values.”
Djalal described a “culture war” going on in society and alleged families are removing their students from the district because there is a “tendency to bully conservatives.”
Board members Kay Hollabaugh and Susan Crouse were wary of working with the ILC.
“I am a conservative and I am a Christian, but we are in a public school district,” Hollabaugh said. “I feel like we have to stand in the middle of the road and take care of everybody.”
Crouse said she would like to know whether the ILC would represent the district in court if it would find itself in a legal battle over policies written by the ILC.
“We may not pay it up front, but we may be paying it in the back end,” Crouse said.
The board did not vote whether to retain the ILC. Crouse suggested the ILC and Stock & Leader make public presentations to the board regarding their services. She said the public, board, and district administrators need time to “digest” the information.
“We can’t rush to a decision tonight,” Crouse said.
Books, bathrooms, and pronouns
In discussing whether to retain the ILC, school board members broached other hot-button topics.
Board member Gerald Walmer said he would support revisions to district Policy 109.1. In March, Lustig proposed changes to the policy that would restrict certain library content, which sparked public debate.
“I don’t think that we need books that are sexually explicit in our libraries, just inappropriate,” Walmer said.
Board member Neil Weigle said a “boy” was allowed to use the girls bathroom when his daughter was a freshman.
“I’m going to protect girls in bathrooms, and I’m going to protect girls in sports,” Weigle said. “And I want to protect teachers, teachers on the pronouns, right? They should not have to worry about which pronouns they have to worry about.”
Djalal raised the topic of “diversity, equity and inclusion” training that Upper Adams staff members receive. She took issue with a post-training quiz that she said defines a bigot as someone who is “vehemently…opposed to someone else’s religion or opinions.”
“There are some things that I completely reject,” Djalal said. “I reject human sacrifice. I reject child marriage. Am I a bigot now?”
Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Joseph Albin wrote in an email Wednesday that the Pennsylvania Department of Education requires staff members to undergo “culturally relevant” training. To meet this mandate, Albin said teachers watch two videos and take two quizzes at the end to “check for understanding” of the content. The district uses an online training platform called Vector Solutions.
Albin wrote that the quiz question Djalal referred to is phrased as such: “Stubborn or complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion, that differs from one’s own is ________________?” According to the training platform, Albin said, the answer is “bigotry.”
Albin said the district is notified when the training is completed by staff. He said the district does not receive individual performance data on any one question.
“Mrs. Djalal certainly has her opinion of this one (1) question and I respect her opinion, however, in my professional option, the context and wording of this question is not cause for alarm,” Albin wrote in an email to the Connection. “It is simply part of an overall annual training program that involves a variety of topics that are mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). If Vector Solutions was not utilized, we would still have to provide some alternative training to meet the requirements of the ‘Culturally Relevant’ mandate in ACT 55 that all school districts must maintain compliance.”
The school board will next meet for its curriculum and extra-curricular committee and business and operations committee meeting June 4 at 6:30 p.m. The next regular board meeting will be June 18 at 7 p.m.
Featured image caption: Community member Rachel Elliott addresses the Upper Adams School Board at its Tuesday meeting.
Mary Grace Kauffman, freelance reporter, worked six years as a full-time reporter for newspapers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has covered topics including business, crime, education, government and features. Mary Grace has a bachelor's degree in communication/journalism from Shippensburg University. She resides in Adams County.
This law firm , the Independence Law Firm, is not ethical or free . They encourage school districts to adopt policies knowing they are legally shaky and then when those policies are challenged they offer to defend the school district—for a substantial fee, naturally. It’s a set up to hook school boards into promoting policies to encourage them to pay the freight to promote for their own ideology . About 20 years ago the Dover School District was encouraged to compel their biology teachers to teach a type of creationism and to diminish the teaching of evolution. The federal judge… Read more »
Thank you so much for covering this story. The poor counsel from the Independence Law Center is exactly what lead to the lawsuits that the Central Bucks School District experienced last year for their discriminatory practices. This also led to the sweeping defeat of the conservative school board members in the November election. Why conservative members of the Upper Adams School District would want to drag the community through such a painful and costly experience is telling of their inability to lead the district. “The Central Bucks School District shelled out over $2 million in legal expenses stemming from their… Read more »