The news out of Central Bucks School District is undeniably explosive.
NBC 10: PENNSYLVANIA
Teacher, aide accused of abusing students with special needs at Pa. school By Deanna Durante and David Chang
There is no way around how ugly this is. No way at all. Now, of course, those of us familiar with Lower Merion School District know that the Central Bucks Superintendent is Dr. Steven Yanni. Yanni was Superintendent in Lower Merion for a few months, never moved into the district and then was gone back to Bucks County (where he lived, so you know that was a heck of a commute to the Main Line every day.)
A related aside was an excellent article in the student newspaper for Lower Merion High School about the revolving door of superintendents in Lower Merion School District. https://themerionite.org/7089/features/lmsds-revolving-door-at-the-superintendent-position/
It was always my opinion that Yanni used getting the job in Lower Merion to get him back where he wanted to be, which was Buck County and of course now he’s on leave because of all of this so maybe that wasn’t the best decision?
Philadelphia Inquirer: Central Bucks’ superintendent is on leave after report found abuse of special education students by Maddie Hanna
Updated April 24, 2025, 10:08 p.m. ET
Now, although not a fan of Yanni, I am less of a fan of the insanity that goes on in a lot of these Bucks County school districts, especially this one. Let us not forget things like Clarice Schillinger, founder of the Keeping Kids in School PAC, who recruited nearly 100 parents to run for school boards across Pennsylvania over masking/anti-vaxxing etc who also made national news as the Bucks County party mom who was accused of slugging a kid?
Bucks County is a total circus with their school districts, especially Central Bucks.
But what came out in this recent thing and this report that was filed that was so explosive to me demonstrates that there’s like this breakdown between school districts, the state including things like “Child Line”, and police departments.
It reminded me of something that happened in Chester County and that was the death of that poor girl, Malinda Hoagland. That made national news as well.
So these two cases this new one in Bucks County and this one from last year in Chester County, to me clearly illustrates that all these agencies that are supposed to be working together for the benefit of children are in fact not.
Let’s start with Child Line which has been a subject of scrutiny in the past. In 2023 there was a report put out about their registry by the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Temple Law School:
Advocating Abolition of PA ChildLine Registry August 22, 2023
In 2022 Community Legal Services filed a law suit: https://clsphila.org/criminal-records/childline-lawsuit/
Now I think because of the problems experienced because of Child Line not l functioning properly, or perhaps functioning unfairly as these articles indicate, it also means that school districts are perhaps reluctant to go to the state and file with Child Line?
I know from what parents told me I guess it was a couple or a few years ago when there were issues at some local daycare places. Parents told me about their experiences calling Child Line among other things they basically felt like when they called in something they weren’t heard or taken seriously. Others have said to me it’s like calling any other thing in Harrisburg that’s supposed to help residents, it’s just a study in frustration.
Of course the greatest irony is because the federal government is monkey around so much with education and actually most probably wants to try to get rid of the Department of Education, these resources are needed more than ever.
From 2016:
ON THE BEAT, POSTS, PUBLIC SAFETY
Advocates say PA’s child abuse hotline has had major problems since 2010, so why did the state wait so long to investigate?
Alexandra Kanik
May 26, 2016
I think there’s a lot of blame to go around. And then you look at the hierarchy and what not within each school district. Often teachers are afraid to step forward. They have to deal with their peers. They have to deal with their teachers union. They have to deal with the administration. It is my opinion that that’s why you didn’t see very much happen that should’ve happened with the whole scandal within the Great Valley School District of making hyper sexualized and horrible fake social media profiles of teachers within that district. That made the news and then it fizzled out and disappeared.
https://www.phillyvoice.com/great-valley-middle-school-tiktok-malvern-chester-county/
That issue shouldn’t have disappeared like that, but you know in order for law-enforcement to do anything teachers have to step forward and allow their names to be used, don’t they? The school district certainly didn’t want this blown up anymore in Great Valley. They wanted it to disappear.
And then there is the crap that all of the school districts have had to deal with since Covid. First there was masking an anti-vaxxing. Now it’s back to book banning. The latest was Radnor School District. And there we all saw a familiar face from the Great Valley School District book banning debacle that included litigation that cost the district and taxpayers quite a bit of coin, and the litigation went nowhere.
I’m pleased to report that Radnor school district is UN-banning the books it banned and I’ve posted the link to the meeting so you can hear how the parents, residents, and former attendees of various Radnor schools felt. You have to surf a little bit into the video, but it’s well worth listening to these people.
The school districts in Pennsylvania seem to deal with a continual circus. I think that’s fair to say. That makes it harder for them to do their jobs.
I also think that is fair to say I think there was an enormous breakdown in the Central Bucks School District, circling back to what I opened this post with, but they’re not the only district that suffers from these things. Now I think Superintendent Yanni will be the scapegoat here and the fall guy, especially because the Republicans in that area didn’t want him here in the first place, did they? But he’s not the only one that can take a lap or two for how that whole horrible scenario all happened at Jamison Elementary.
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/doylestown/central-bucks-board-member-calls-superintendent-resign
https://www.buckscounty.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1274
I have to be honest and say that I am not surprised that there are issues in any school district when it comes to special needs kids. There are the teachers and administrators and other personnel who really really care, and then there are the ones who don’t.
I have had many friends over the course of my life who have had kids with varying degrees of special needs in some very familiar school districts who ended up having to take their kids OUT of these public school districts, and in some cases, sue the district to get the kids into better programs elsewhere.
And then there are the parents who want school districts to deal with severe bullying issues, and things of that nature. And there’s a lot of double talk, but not a lot of action. And sometimes the bullying is not from the kids, it’s the adults, yes?
The circus of school districts needs to get back to the best interest of the child. Every time one of these horrible things happens school districts say they’re going to do better. Then the state will say it’s going to do better, and eventually it all goes back to the way it was doesn’t it? Actual change and reform need to happen.
And that includes a need for school districts to have effective mechanisms in place to deal with the parents that think that what they believe personally should be applied across the board to every parent with things like book banning. The dead baby poster toting book banning poster toting parents are taking up a lot of valuable time within our school districts. They seem to think that their rights matter more than everyone else’s. These circus routines distract from more important matters. You know things like child abuse. Or actual education.
And Harrisburg? Well, Harrisburg is its own cesspool, and this is a glaring example of what they need to actually do better as well.
And then all of these school districts and the state have to work better with law enforcement. it has to be a partnership for the betterment of the children, putting the egos and partisan politics aside.
OK, I’m getting off my soapbox now. But I just think there’s actual reform that needs to happen and it’s not just in one exceptionally problematic school district in Bucks County.
Have a good rest of your Fridays everyone.
