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VIDEO: New Hope-Solebury School Board Again Fails to Reprimand Member at Center of Facebook Controversy

If the New Hope-Solebury School Board intended to put a troublesome Facebook post by member Douglas J. McDonough behind them at Monday night’s scheduled meeting, they appeared to fail miserably.

After keeping parents, students and other concerned citizens in suspense while they went about regular business for an hour and a half, the school board politely listened to, then ignored, the demands of audience members yet again.

new hope free press | school boardWhile some in attendance may have expected the directors to continue avoiding the issue of McDonough’s potential resignation, few expected the board to persist in sidestepping censure. Board members asserted that they lacked legal authorization to issue a rebuke, let alone force McDonough to resign.

McDonough had already apologized at a public meeting Dec. 5 for a Facebook post which drew the ire of local residents. But that apology did not effectively quiet the anger of many in attendance that evening, who have continued to call for his resignation. Instead, the school board agreed to consider extending the district’s anti-bullying policy to their members at Monday night’s meeting, but board Vice President Adrienne Deussing and and Former President Mark Cowell helped delay that plan at a Dec. 13 subcommittee meeting.

Douglas J. McDonoughAfter public commentary, McDonough read a statement detailing his efforts thus far to combat hate speech and the need to wear safety pins. Board President Neale Dougherty said the group lacked effective mechanisms to take firmer action in the situation.

 

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About the author

Charlie Sahner

“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." - Einstein

1 Comment

  • I wonder, how many of the students tha tspoke at the last two board meetings, if any, were and maybe still are victims of bullying by fellow students?
    Also, judging by the behavior of some of the parents who got up to speak, how many of them have children who seek to get their way by bullying fellow students?

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