Pennridge’s parents fill small bookcases with various books

The removal of the books accompanied the school board’s decision to disband diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and form a new DEI team, an idea suggested by current board chair Joan Cullen.

More recently, the Pennridge District administration told history teachers not to “get into” discussions of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol uprising with students. That same week, at a meeting on the school board’s curriculum, board members criticized the history textbooks offered by teachers, saying they did not focus enough on “Western culture” and ” the greatness of America.

“We feel like there are gaps in their education now,” Schell said, “and we’re trying to fill them as best we can, to expose them to these things that they’re going to encounter in the world. .”

She pointed out that the parents of the Pennridge Improvement Project, led by six white mothers, don’t feel like they’re doing this book drive just for themselves, but for the collective community. They work alongside their neighbors who are most affected by district decisions.

“We try not to just decide for ourselves what’s okay,” Schell said. Rather, she said, it’s about focusing on the needs of affected families, like “listening to what parents of color, LGBTQ parents, what they would like for the books.”

Schell said they want Pennridge to become safer for these families.

But for her, it is also a personal fight. Schell wants her daughter, Juliana, to have an education she didn’t get in high school, and she worries that Juliana’s schooling will become increasingly whitewashed.

“I didn’t learn much about these things growing up. And it took me until I was an adult to have the ability to hear about these things or read them myself,” Schell said.

The district’s enrollment is approximately 90% white.

“I was happy that [Juliana] was going to hear directly from some of these people and what they’ve encountered in life and the struggles they’ve had,” Schell said. “I want her to have empathy. I want her to understand that we need to care about everyone, not just ourselves.