Speakers urge support for people with FASD and raise records, residency concerns

Two preregistered public speakers addressed the board on Sept. 24: one urged district action to better support people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and another raised concerns about the district's handling of parental records and a residency dispute.

Ursula Leffek of McCandless Township told the board that the federal "FASD Respect Act" was passed on Sept. 18 and said the legislation "brings national attention, funding and respect to a community that has been long underserved." Leffek said FASD "affects at least 1 in 20 people in The United States" and described the condition as a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that commonly co-occurs with ADHD, sensory-processing challenges and learning disabilities. She criticized practices she described as harmful to families — including what she called unnecessary dependency petitions, untrained staff responses, and ignoring parent-provided strategies — and said such actions "violate the spirit and often the letter of IDEA, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act." She asked the board and administration whether the district "will do better" and to "lead with compassion, science, and collaboration."

The second preregistered speaker, Brandon Maseth, described a dispute over access to his child's records and alleged the district and its solicitor attempted to withhold documents. Maseth said he had filed a request under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law for emails and records related to what he described as residency fraud and correspondence by senior leadership and the solicitor. He asked the board to provide the requested documents rather than incur further legal costs, and urged the board to clarify how the district defines "a student" to prevent future parental access issues.

The board did not record a formal response to either speaker in the transcript excerpt and proceeded to closing items.