Pennsylvania schools drop ID requirement at board meetings, for now, following a lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA — After two community members took legal action against the Souderton Area School District over the school board's move to require identification and limit capacity at its public meetings, officials have agreed to drop the ID requirement — at least for now.

Large crowds attempted to attend two recent board meetings, many drawn by controversy over a social media post made by board member Bill Formica. After Formica wrote on X that Vice President Kamala Harris "blew a lot of dudes," a number of parents and community members demanded his resignation.

At the board's September meetings, armed officers asked those attempting to enter the district's administration building to show photo ID. Officials said they were prioritizing Souderton residents' entry.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this week by Souderton residents Heather Young and Maureen Kratz in Montgomery County County Court of Common Pleas, alleges that the school district violated both the First Amendment and the state Sunshine Law by keeping out some people who did not have photo ID.

The citizens also objected to the board's move to hold the meeting at the district's administrative building, which only holds 110 people. In the past, it has held some meetings at Indian Valley Middle School, which holds more than 500. (Souderton also does not livestream or record its meetings, so members of the public who cannot attend in person can't watch from home.)

On Tuesday night, Jeffrey Sultanik, the district's lawyer, told Joy Ramsingh, who represents Young and Kratz, that the ID policy would not be in place for a Wednesday board committee meeting — though he indicated the district did not believe the suit had merit.

"While we do not believe your complaint has much substantive legal merit and without prejudice to the board's legal position, the district does not plan to implement the photo identification preferential seating process just for tomorrow night's committee meeting," Sultanik wrote in the email, which was obtained by The Inquirer. "This will give us time to confer with the entire board regarding the allegations in your complaint that we do not believe are factually correct or legally supportable."

Still, the lawsuit has not been withdrawn. The plaintiffs are asking a judge to require a permanent end to the practice of requiring photo ID to enter meetings, and to ensure the district stops "limiting its venue capacity as a means of curtailing public access."

Ramsingh on Tuesday night said if the district reinstates its ID ban after Wednesday, the plaintiffs would likely file an emergency motion for injunctive relief.

How did we get here?

Formica, first elected to a board seat last year, then re-elected as part of a slate of Republican candidates, has apologized for his post, which he has said was "misguided and inappropriate" and "unprofessional," but has rejected calls for his resignation.

Tempers are hot over the issue. One Souderton board committee meeting ended abruptly after residents called for the board to address Formica's comment, but members said they would not, instead sticking to matters scheduled to be discussed by the curriculum committee. An online petition calling for Formica's resignation is circulating.

Young and Kratz, in their complaint, say that Formica in other social media posts has "made demeaning and sexual comments, disparaged teachers, and stated his opposition to diversity training, thereby raising concerns among many parents and community stakeholders in the school district."

Souderton doesn't like the public scrutiny, Kratz and Young say, but while "these regrettable social media posts made by Mr. Formica presented an opportunity for the district to open its doors wider, to give its taxpayers a fair opportunity to express genuine disappointment in the district's leadership, and to govern transparently and effectively in the midst of crisis," its leaders have "looked for ways to make its meetings less accessible, in the hope of silencing its criticism."

By board order, armed officers began checking for ID at the board's Sept. 11 meeting. State law requires meetings to be open to any member of the general public, but Souderton officials have said they wanted to make sure attendance for residents, employees and the press was prioritized.

Kratz, a district resident and taxpayer, came to the Sept. 11 meeting to peacefully protest, holding a sign calling for Formica's resignation. After her demonstration, she put down her sign and attempted to enter the meeting, but was denied entry because she did not have her ID.

At the board's next meeting, on Sept. 26, entry was limited to 80 residents, despite the venue's 110-seat capacity. Young, a district resident, was denied entry because she also did not have an ID. Young was then physically blocked from entering the meeting, she said, and "threatened by a Souderton Area School District resource officer with arrest for trespassing at the 'public' meeting.'"

About 40 people, including Kratz, were denied entry to the meeting because officers said the room was too full.

The application of the ID requirement was "chaotic and arbitrary," the suit says.

Protests at Wednesday's board meeting?

Richard Detwiler, a member of the Save Souderton Coalition, one group organized to call for Formica's ouster, said residents would continue to attend board meetings to make noise about Formica.

"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," Detwiler said in a statement. "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."

The coalition is encouraging people 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 Oct. 24 action meeting."