Souderton school board members walked out of a meeting after facing demands to address vulgar Kamala Harris comment
Bill Formica, who was appointed to the board last summer and won the district election in November, posted about Harris on social media.
The Souderton school board abruptly ended a meeting Wednesday night after it was interrupted by parents who wanted to address a board member’s vulgar comment about Vice President Kamala Harris.
For weeks, district parents and other local residents have demanded the resignation of the board member, Bill Formica, who wasn’t in attendance Wednesday. Formica had posted on X that Harris “blew a lot of dudes,” in response to another user’s post asking to “name ONE THING this chick has accomplished, politically?” The board member appears to have since deleted his account.
Facing the public for the first time since a petition began circulating July 31 calling for Formica to step down, board member Stephen Nelson told the crowd in the district’s administrative building that the board’s practice during committee meetings was to limit public comment to items on the agenda.
It is “abundantly clear” that the controversy around Formica does “not have a direct nexus to the curriculum agenda,” Nelson told the crowd, adding that people could make comments during the board’s action meeting on Aug. 29.
As people shouted, Nelson said: “We’re not amending the agenda,” directing security personnel to escort a woman out.
“Here’s the deal,” Superintendent Frank Gallagher told the room. Neither “the board nor the administration has the ability by law to remove Mr. Formica.” The crowd continued to call out, and the board ended the meeting.
Formica, who was appointed to the board last summer and won election in November as part of a slate of Republican candidates, did not respond to a request for comment.
Parents and teachers have criticized Formica’s post as sexist and misogynistic, and also say he has a history of making offensive comments, including on LGBTQ issues.
Though Formica’s comments weren’t on the agenda, parents showed up Wednesday “because they felt there was no other way to get information,” said Corinne DeGeiso, the chair of Souderton Area for Responsible Leadership, a political action committee that supported the Democratic candidates in last year’s election. DeGeiso said the district hasn’t been responding to parent emails on the topic, and hasn’t issued a statement since Aug. 2, when it said Formica had used “inappropriate language and poor judgment.” It asked for time for the board to “process this situation.”
“I’m not quite sure how much time you need to process this,” she said. DeGeiso, who said she had never seen as many parents at a committee meeting, said she expects meeting attendance will remain high “until this has been addressed properly and to the community’s satisfaction.”