Students highlight unified bocce and speakers press board on DEI, bullying and transparency

As part of its Feb. 20 action meeting, the North Penn School District heard a student spotlight on the Unified Bocce program and several public commenters addressed concerns about social-media behavior by a board member, a previously discussed incident at Pembroke, and the value of inclusion programs.

Superintendent Dr. Todd Bauer introduced Sue Ahart, a board-certified behavior analyst at North Penn High School, and four students who described the Unified Bocce team. Alex Rady said, “miss Ahart and miss Dash are the best coaches,” and noted his team finished the season with seven wins and one loss and made the playoffs. Student speakers emphasized friendships and inclusion: Sabir Amadi said, “Unified sports like bocce bring together students of all abilities showing everyone has a place on the team.” Alana Tomkiewicz reported the program had 57 students this year across varsity and junior varsity teams.

During the audience of citizens public-comment period, Shannon Maine asked whether the summary of the Pembroke investigation would be presented to the full board in public, saying, “Given the seriousness of the incident and the district's stated commitment to full transparency ... will the summary of the findings of the investigation be brought to the full board in a public meeting?” Maine also pressed the board to apply anti-bullying standards equally, citing the district’s bullying policy (identified in the meeting as policy 51 15) and urging the board to condemn “politically charged aggressive threats” by a board member.

Jason Lanier and other commenters also criticized efforts to remove DEI work from district initiatives and questioned the district’s use of programs and services. In contrast, Margaret Burke described long-term benefits of inclusion programs for her child, recounting how prior district policy and placement choices had negatively affected services and saying inclusion efforts led to internships, improved mobility, and significant educational opportunities for her child.

Board members responded in part by pointing to the Unified Bocce presentation as an example of inclusion in practice. A board director said the bocce demonstration “is a lens that we expect the district to apply to all things that we do” and framed inclusion as an operational approach rather than a checklist. No formal board action on DEI policy was taken during the meeting.

Ending: The meeting record shows continued disagreement in the community about DEI and board behavior, while students and families described concrete examples of inclusive programming that board members pointed to as model practice.