SASD board member Bill Formica was appointed in June 2023 to fill a vacancy.
The comment, made on X, formerly known as Twitter, was in response to a post questioning Harris’s political record.
Souderton Area School District residents are demanding the resignation of school board member Bill Formica after he made an objectionable social media post about Vice President Kamala Harris.
The comment, made on X, formerly known as Twitter, was in response to a post questioning Harris’s political record.
“Name ONE THING this chick has accomplished, politically? ONE!” read the post.
Formica replied with a reference to a sex act.
The post was quickly circulated on social media, prompting widespread community outrage.
“It is one thing to have disagreement or dislike for a candidate over policies. It’s another to hurl disgusting insults and disrespect them out of bigotry and pure hated,” parent John Waldenberger told The Reporter. “Is this really someone who should be in charge of not only those employed to educate of our children, but someone who is supposed to be an example for our children?”
“To see the mockery he has made of our beloved district is appalling and must be rectified immediately,” added Scott Swindells, who ran for school board on the Democrats’ team in the last election. Swindells reached out to The Reporter to express outrage at Formica’s social media post and other posts that Swindells said he and other district residents find objectionable.
Following the post, parent Natalie Cimonetti launched a petition demanding Formica’s resignation. As of Monday afternoon, the petition had garnered over 1,300 signatures.
“His actions bring shame to the school district and he needs to step down from his position of trust. Our community is better than this,” reads the petition. “If Souderton is truly a place where ‘character counts’ as our motto suggests, then we have to put actions behind those words. Otherwise, they are meaningless.”
On Friday, Superintendent Frank Gallagher and board president Ken Keith issued a statement acknowledging that Formica used “inappropriate language” and “poor judgment” and requesting time to “process” the situation.
“We do not want a delay in communication from the district to be perceived as a lack of concern or disregard for the impact these comments have had on our community,” read the statement. “Words matter. Respect matters. Our schools and offices must be spaces where diverse opinions are honored – but where respect is required.
“It’s important that our school community knows that the comments or actions of an individual board member, administrator or employee of the district do not represent the board as a whole, the administration or others in our employee groups,” the statement added. “We believe that school leaders should be strong role models, acting with the same respect, civility and kindness that we ask of our students.”
Formica was appointed to the school board in June 2023 to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of board member Donna Scheuren, who is now a state legislator. He won a full term in the November election, running with Keith and board members Nick Braccio, Mike Barnacz and Kim Wheeler on the Republican “Keep Souderton Strong” team.
Residents are keeping up the pressure on Formica to resign, while calling on the school board to live up to its “character counts” motto.
“There is no reason for Mr. Formica to remain on the SASD Board of School Directors,” said Swindells. “Further delaying his resignation and replacement only negatively affects the start of the upcoming school year and our school district’s reputation. Our teachers and students deserve better.”
“The board should replace him immediately with the next-highest vote recipient from November’s election, then move forward with increased sensitivity to these issues that have marginalized so many in our community,” said Waldenberger.
Formica declined to comment when contacted Monday by phone.
The next SASD board meeting is on August 29 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit soudertonsd.org.
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