Central Bucks will conduct an internal probe of anti-LGBTQ complaint, led by former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain

Facing allegations of creating a “hostile environment” for LGBTQ students and scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Education, the Central Bucks school board has hired a legal team led by former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain to conduct an internal investigation.

In a 6-3 vote late Tuesday, the board opted to move forward with the Philadelphia-based Duane Morris group — helmed by McSwain and former federal prosecutor Michael Rinaldi — to perform an internal review of district policies and accusations levied in a 72-page complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

The ACLU’s attorneys have said they found a “pattern of pervasive and often serious harassment and bullying of LGBTQ students” in many of the district’s schools and have requested that the district be ordered to follow federal recommendations for providing an inclusive environment for LGBTQ youth. The Department of Education last month said it had opened an investigation into the complaint.

» READ MORE: ACLU has filed a federal complaint alleging Central Bucks has created a ‘hostile environment’ for LGBTQ students

Central Bucks has not made available details of the contract with Duane Morris, including how much it will pay the firm.

But the choice of McSwain — whose since-deleted Facebook comments calling an invitation to join a West Chester school Gender-Sexuality Alliance club “leftist political indoctrination” drew backlash during his run for governor this year — concerned some parents and board members.

Tabitha Dell’Angelo, who voted against the move, said that she was in favor of hiring lawyers and commissioning an internal investigation, but that she couldn’t support being represented by “someone who is unapologetically partisan and has been very vocal in their support for the very kinds of policies that we’re supposed to be being reflective about to make sure we get it right.”

“I’m afraid that it looks like … we’re less interested in getting it right, and more interested in being right,” Dell’Angelo said. “I can’t justify spending tax dollars, maybe a lot of tax dollars, to have somebody just tell us what we want to hear.”

» READ MORE: Central Bucks’ new lawyers may include former U.S. Attorney McSwain in investigation into anti-LGBTQ discrimination

Alongside Dell’Angelo, Democrats Karen Smith and Mariam Mahmud also voted against the hire. The three are often at odds with the board’s Republican majority.

Smith added that the board had received repeated warnings and formal letters from legal groups that “our actions on certain policies and procedures violated student rights and were likely to result in legal action.”

In addition to the comments about the middle school club, some community speakers Tuesday also voiced concern around McSwain’s stance on LGBTQ matters, noting he also represented the Boy Scouts in 2008 when the City of Philadelphia attempted to evict the group from its headquarters for excluding gay members.

A spokesperson for Duane Morris declined to comment.

» READ MORE: Central Bucks parents protest removal of Pride flags and other actions they say are hostile to LGBTQ students

During Tuesday’s meeting, a handful of parents and community members voiced support for the board and its actions.

McSwain was appointed U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by former President Donald Trump in 2017, and later rebuked by Trump during his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Rinaldi also worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, serving as deputy chief of the economic crimes unit.

In an email newsletter Monday to parents, board president Dana Hunter wrote that the two “have decades of investigative experience and are well-suited to serve and advise the Board as it works to ensure a safe learning environment for all the district’s children.”

As part of their investigation, the lawyers will review the district’s policies, Hunter wrote. Discussion of policy — including contentious proposed advocacy guidelines that many on the board say will instill “neutrality” in class, but that the ACLU and opponents have said is directed at the removal of rainbow Pride flags from classrooms — was paused at the November meeting, pending the law firm’s hire.

» READ MORE: Central Bucks board denies discrimination allegations, moves forward on policy that ACLU warns hurts LGBTQ students

Hunter and others on the board have repeatedly requested that the redacted names of seven LGBTQ students who the ACLU’s complaint says were bullied be revealed to address the allegations, while attorneys from the ACLU have said they are not publicly releasing the information in order to protect their clients.

“We are eager for the findings of the Duane Morris investigation in order to address what has otherwise been, for nearly a month, hidden information,” Hunter wrote.

Her email called the ACLU’s complaint “a partisan, political tool,” adding that “the Board is not going to be distracted by the ACLU’s tactics.”

In a statement, Witold Walczak, legal director at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, countered: “The only thing the CB school board should be distracted by is figuring out how they fix the toxic environment they have created for LGBTQ students.”

The board is slated to meet next on Dec. 5.