Policy & Advocacy
fighting for the freedom to read for every child
My school district, Central York, overturned the largest book ban in American public education in 2021 and another ban in 2023. The first time, over 400 resources were forbidden from classroom use by an extremist school board, including biographies of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. District administration and officials heard my voice loud and clear in opposition to racially-motivated and bigoted book banning. My running mates and I spoke over and over about the illegality and immorality of the board’s actions, before and during our successful campaign for election to that same board in 2023. Our coordinated campaign of resistance, supported by teachers, parents and students, ensured that book banning itself is now a thing of the past in our district. I have and will continue to stand up for the freedom of students to read, and for parents to choose what is right for their own children to read instead of deciding to impose their views on all students.
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resisting the influence of right-wing extremist law firms
After assuming my seat on the school board, I drafted & passed a Legal Counsel policy to prevent infiltration by extremist right-wing law firms as solicitors and policy advisors. Other school districts in our county were hiring the Independence Law Center (ILC), an extremist anti-LGBTQ law firm associated with the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center identified as a hate group. This law firm helped local districts draft policies to allow racist, bigoted book bans. It advised them on how to intimidate and mistreat transgender students. They even briefly consulted for our district’s administration before I took office. We wanted to make sure it never happened again, and that our school officials were advised by qualified counsel. The process I pushed forward created safeguards to keep the entire selection process transparent, accountable to voters and consistent with our nondiscrimination policies. We passed this unprecedented policy in 2024. Afterward, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) endorsed it as a recommended policy.
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protecting whistleblowers and ensuring transparency
Voters in our district tired of seeing our schools in the headlines for the wrong reasons. They wanted a transparent system that encouraged waste, fraud and wrongdoing to be dealt with before it got out of hand. In 2025, I drafted & passed a Whistleblower Protection Policy for our district. We set up a system that helps ensure impartial investigations, protect the confidentiality of employees that report concerns, and prevent retaliation and harassment based on any reports submitted. I continue to follow up to ensure this system is reflected fully in our other policies and administrative procedures, because a policy we can’t implement is no policy at all.
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ensuring our students are represented and supported
In 2025, as Policy Committee chair, I introduced and helped pass a groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence policy & revised Cyberbullying policy for our school district. We did this because our school needs to keep up with rapid technological change in order to educate our students and support them as they face new challenges, anxieties and opportunities. I also want to ensure our students are fairly represented in discussions that affect their day-to-day lives. To that end, I’ve led a push for greater student representation and a revamping of our student complaint procedures. Students are capable of advocating for their own interests and providing insight into school district governance – after all, they’re the reason we are all in this business. We need to hear and respect what they have to tell us.
