Pennsylvania school board rejects ‘cis, white male’ for board president
Heather Hunter
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A school board in Pennsylvania had voted 8-1 this week against allowing one of their school board colleagues, Gregory D’Elia, to become the president of the board because he is a “cis, white male.”
“I believe that Mr. D’Elia would make an excellent president,” Upper Moreland School Board member Jennifer Solot said during the vote on Tuesday in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. “However, I feel that electing the only cis, white male president of this district sends the wrong message to our community — a message that is contrary to what we as a board have been trying to accomplish.”
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She added: “I think it’s important that we practice what we preach and that our words have strength when they are spoken, whether we speak them from the neighborhood sidewalks or from behind these tables.”
Solot closed her remarks by expressing support for school board member April Stainback. Of the nine board members, Stainback and D’Elia were the only two people nominated for board president.
After Solot’s remarks and during the vote, school board member Sarah Byrnes hesitated and said, “This is very hard to do as the new person on the board.”
Byrnes then conceded that she would vote for Stainback. Rose Huber also hesitated, but after a long pause, she also voted for Stainback. In the 8-1 vote, D’Elia was the only one to vote for himself.
D’Elia, the “cis, white male” school board member, was supported by the Upper Moreland Democrats when he ran in 2019.
The father of three children attended Penn State and received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2005. According to a 2019 candidate questionnaire, he holds four U.S. patents and “headed design and installation on guy lines on the new One World Trade Center.”
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D’Elia’s interest in the school board grew when one of his children “struggled with school and was having a very bad experience.” He was able to get the IEP special education resources that his son needed. His goals in running for office were to “improve access to special services for students.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to D’Elia for comment.
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