Cris Dush and Stephanie Borowicz address school board on Title IX policies
By Christopher Miller
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – State Representative Stephanie Borowicz and State Senator Cris Dush both addressed the school board at Thursday nights Voting Meeting.
Speaking on the basis of a recent Supreme Court block of a Biden administration Title IX rule, all school board members in attendance voted unanimously to table the discussion and vote on school board Policy 103 Discrimination/Harassment Affecting Students, and Policy 103.1 Nondiscrimination – Qualified Students With Disabilities until the Supreme Court makes a decision on the matter. The new rule includes protections from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX.
Senator Dush spoke first, saying that the policies are a result of Biden’s executive order and the federal government.
“Passing this would be an unlawful order and the federal government does not have the ability to enforce it,” Dush said. “Folks are not getting their funding cut on Title IX issues and I urge you to stand your oath and not to bow down to the executive branch and what is an unlawful edit from their department.”
Dush cited the Constitution, saying that the legislative branch makes the rules, not the executive branch.
“What the executive branch is doing is usurping the role of the legislature,” Dush commented.
Board member Chris Scaff asked Dush if the school district will lose Title IX funding if the district votes to not follow the new rule.
Dush replied, “So far they have not done that and with the recent court ruling with Mom’s for Liberty, you now have people in this district who are members of that group, and it is another reason why you cannot stand on the ruling and regardless of what the Supreme Court decision, they don’t have a leg to stand on because it is on appeal, and I do not see them doing anything with this soon with the election coming up.”
Representative Stephanie Borowicz also spoke, saying that “they will threaten Title IX funding cut, but this is a fight to protect women and children in our schools and protecting them, and I am fighting this at the state level right now.”
“It is completely unconstitutional; the executive branch does not have the ability to make law, it is a moral issue at our schools and I will stand up for what is right,” she said. “I will protect women’s sports and women in our area.”
Board member Elisabeth Lynch asked if there were any other local school districts that haven’t passed these policies, and Cris Dush replied, “on Monday, Bradford School District shot it down.”
