Parents and community members press Perkiomen Valley board on special education outcomes and policy 720 rescission

Several community members used the public-comment portion of the Perkiomen Valley School Board meeting to criticize recent board action on policy 720 and to urge the district to address long-standing gaps in special education outcomes.

Kim Mears, who signed up to speak, thanked the district for supporting Unified Track and bocce ball and then turned to special education data presented earlier. She said she reviewed the long-form data packet and singled out slides showing weak math proficiency for special education students, describing the figure as '26% or 25% proficiency over the last 5 years' and urging the district to 'really dive into why, and what we can do to help these students.'

Two other speakers — Crystal Moyer and Janice Sheridan — framed their comments around the board’s rescinding of policy 720. Crystal Moyer asked the board to 'please stop taking in your hands issues that are not only that are not yours' and requested clarity on restroom accommodations and behavior protocols. Janice Sheridan criticized the policy change on biological grounds, stating 'the only real way to determine *** is through gametes' and arguing that sex is binary; her remarks included broader religious and moral language.

In response, Doctor Russell said the administration will form a task force and send invitations to staff and parents; he told the board: 'there's an invitation that's set to go out to our staff. We have administrators that will be involved, and I'll talk about it a little bit in our newsletter' and asked the community to 'please stay tuned.'

The board did not take formal action on policy 720 at the meeting; public comment and questioning will feed into upcoming committee and task-force work, including the special education parent advisory meeting scheduled for March 14 and a community engagement forum scheduled for March 20.