Alliance Defending Freedom
Local Alert
📅 Monday, October 5, 2026 to Calendar
📄 View Official Agenda
We reviewed the upcoming agenda for Pennridge SD and identified 3 items with potential legal exposure ahead of the vote.
HIGH VIABILITY (LEVEL 7)
Bullying Policy Authorizes Delayed Parental Notification
📅 October 5, 2026
The district is reviewing a first reading of Policy 249 on Bullying/Cyberbullying. The draft policy includes a provision allowing administrators to delay notifying a parent/guardian about their child’s involvement in a bullying incident if staff believe notification could create a ‘risk of abuse, neglect or other imminent harm’.
Intake Action

PRE-VOTE ACTION: Item 4.B is a first reading. Send a pre-adoption legal notice to the Board before the second reading, identifying the constitutional defect in the parental notification delay provision. Calendar the next Policy Committee meeting on November 2, 2026 for the second reading.

⚖️ Legal Hook: Parental Rights – 14th Am. Due Process
MONITOR (LEVEL 4)
New Social Media Literacy Curriculum Mandate
📅 October 5, 2026
The district is considering a first reading of Policy 246, which introduces a new mandate for a ‘social media literacy program.’ The curriculum will address the mental and physiological effects of social media, which could implicate parental rights regarding student instruction on sensitive topics.
Intake Action

CALENDAR: Item 4.A is a first reading. Track for the second reading and submit a records request for the ‘social media literacy program’ curriculum materials once developed to assess for parental rights implications.

⚖️ Legal Hook: Parental Rights – Curriculum Review
✅ Precedent to Preserve
Adopted language worth preserving as precedent.
Strong Precedent (LEVEL 8)
Student Discipline Policy Protects Off-Campus Speech
📅 October 5, 2026
The Board is set for a second reading of Policy 218, which governs student discipline. The revised policy includes a new provision explicitly exempting off-campus religious and political speech from disciplinary action unless it meets the ‘materially and substantially interfere’ standard, protecting student First Amendment rights.
How to Preserve It

PRESERVE THE RECORD: Item 3.A is a second reading of a policy with strong protections for student off-campus speech. Capture the adopted text of Policy 218 and file as a model policy for use in other districts.

✅ Why It Matters: First Amendment – Free Speech
District Leadership
Address 1200 N 5th St, Perkasie, PA 18944
“Contending in the courts of man, in reverence for the courts of God.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, parental rights, and God’s design for marriage and family.

Alliance Defending Freedom

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