Religious liberty law firm that helped Central Bucks is working with York County schools. Here’s what to know.

The legal group that helped Central Bucks implement restrictions on library books and transgender athletes is no longer active in the district, which flipped late last year from Republican to Democratic control.

But it continues to shape school policy elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

The Independence Law Center recently signed agreements with three school districts in York County, and is being considered by additional districts, according to the York Dispatch. The law center’s potential involvement in the West Shore School District in suburban Harrisburg spurred protest Monday, with residents voicing concern the group would introduce discriminatory policies.

Here’s what to know about the law center and what role it’s played in school policies:

The law center says it aims to “preserve religious liberty, promote marriage and the family, protect human life, and improve education and policy for our clients.” It is the legal arm of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a nonprofit that lobbies for “family values” in Harrisburg.

PA Family is listed as a state-level group on the website of the Family Research Council — a national Christian conservative advocacy organization that aims to promote “family issues that affect the nation from a biblical worldview.” The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the Family Research Council a hate group, accusing it of a “defamatory campaign to link LGBTQ people with pedophilia” and other anti-LGTBQ myths based on “discredited research and junk science.”

The Independence Law Center has filed amicus briefs in support of plaintiffs represented by the Alliance for Defending Freedom, a national conservative Christian legal advocacy group. Among them is the Colorado web designer who won her case before the Supreme Court, arguing the First Amendment allowed her to refuse to design websites for same-sex couples.

In Pennsylvania, the center has successfully represented a Christian ministry group that transports public school students to attend religious instruction during the school day. The group argued its buses weren’t school buses, and thus not subject to transportation department regulations.

It also represented students who sued the Boyertown Area School District in Montgomery and Berks Counties in 2017 over a policy allowing transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. The center lost the case, which the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear on appeal.

Central Bucks said last year that it had enlisted the center to help write regulations governing its policy prohibiting “sexualized content” in library books, which the board passed in July 2022. The policy led to bans of two books — Gender Queer and This Book is Gay — and challenges against 60 others. The center did the work pro bono, according to the district.

The district also worked with the group on crafting a policy that banned teachers from advocating to students on “partisan, political or social policy issues,” Central Bucks’ then-board president told Reuters last year. (The board didn’t acknowledge the law center’s involvement when it passed the policy in January 2023.)

The center, which previously helped a Lancaster County school district pass a policy barring transgender athletes from playing on teams matching their gender identities, supplied Central Bucks with a draft policy on that issue, according to emails obtained by the Bucks County Courier Times. Central Bucks later passed its own ban in August. That policy, along with the advocacy and library book measures, have since been suspended by the new board.

During school board meetings, the board didn’t publicly discuss the law center’s involvement, and the district and center never signed a contract, according to the Courier Times. But the board’s former vice president is now promoting her work with the group.

Leigh Vlasblom, who left the board in December 2023, now works as director of school board leadership programs for the conservative Leadership Institute; the organization notes her background in Central Bucks and that she “worked extensively” with the Pa. Family Institute and Independence Law Center.

The law center didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday, including a question about how many Pennsylvania school districts it’s working with.

The Education Law Center, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that advocates for public education funding and underserved students, including LGBTQ students, counts at least 15 Pennsylvania school districts that have consulted or contracted with the Independence Law Center, not including Central Bucks.

“The impact for students in these districts is really harmful, homophobic and transphobic policies and school climate,” said Kristina Moon, senior staff attorney with the Education Law Center, which has been tracking policies through parent reports and media coverage.