(Headline USA) A school board member in Pennsylvania refused to vote in favor of her colleague to become president of the board because he is a “cis, white male.”
The Upper Moreland School Board held a vote last Tuesday on board member Gregor D’Elia’s nomination. The vote ended up being 8-1, with D’Elia being the only board member to vote for himself.
“I believe that Mr. D’Elia would make an excellent president,” Solot said during the meeting. “However, I feel that electing the only cis, white male president of this district sends the wrong message to our community— a message that is contrary to what we as a board have been trying to accomplish.”
🚨 @UpperMorelandSD Board member, Jennifer Solot, says she is against electing the only, “cis white male on this board,” as president of the district because it, “sends the wrong message to our community.”
Wow. Saying the quiet part out loud. pic.twitter.com/stEMoeUExS
— Megan Brock (@MegEBrock) December 10, 2022
Solot added that she thinks it’s important to “practice what we preach and that our words have strength when they are spoken, whether we speak them from the neighborhood sidewalks or from behind these tables.”
She closed her remarks by throwing her support behind board member April Stainback, who was also a nominee for the position.
After Solot, every other board member fell in line.
“This is very hard to do as the new person on the board,” said school board member Sarah Byrnes. She hesitated and then conceded that she too would vote for Stainback.
Board member Rose Huber also hesitated, but ultimately voted for Stainback as well.
According to a Facebook post, D’Elia—the “cis, white male”—was supported by his local Democratic Party when he ran for the position in 2019, as was Stainback.
He is the father of three children and said he wanted to serve on the school board member to help special needs students like his son get the help they need. His goal on the board is to “improve access to special services for students,” he added.
