For the past two years, the Republican-dominated Pennridge School Board, located north of Philadelphia, has operated with a surge of ideological enthusiasm. They implemented book bans and revised curricula, reflecting the broader conservative agenda championed by the advocacy group Moms for Liberty, which aligns with Donald J. Trump.

However, these actions sparked a backlash in this politically divided community.

In recent school board elections, a group of Democrats won decisively, pledging to prioritize “Pennridge over politics” and to end the contentious atmosphere that had plagued the community.

Despite this shift, the impact of the previous board’s actions is still evident a year later.

Some of the banned books have been returned to the library, but many remain absent. Transgender students have access to certain bathrooms that correspond to their gender identities, but not all facilities have been made available to them.

Currently, teachers are still prohibited from displaying identity symbols like rainbow flags, and there has been no effort to restore the diversity, equity, and inclusion training and reading materials that were eliminated by the former board.

Adrienne King, a parent activist, remarked, “Change is very slow and almost imperceptible.”

It remains uncertain whether local discontent with Republican educational policies will influence voter decisions in the upcoming presidential election. The Pennridge district is part of Bucks County, a key swing area where both Mr. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have recently campaigned.

What is evident is that many parents in Pennridge are weary of the political strife that has characterized communities across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have reached a new political equilibrium, where some changes have become entrenched in public education, notably the expectation that parents should have insight into their children’s educational content and some degree of control.

Ron Wurz, the school board president, initially elected as a Republican but running for re-election as a Democrat due to disillusionment with his colleagues’ ideological zeal, stated, “We’re all about transparency. People were fed up with the controversy and negativity.”

He noted the area’s political division, suggesting that moving past this tumultuous period shouldn’t mean a drastic shift to the left.

“Any political movement that goes too far risks being pulled back by voters,” he cautioned.

A Shift to the Right

During the pandemic and amid the racial justice protests following George Floyd’s death, Pennridge School Board meetings were filled with hundreds of passionate community members.

One mother described curriculum materials discussing contemporary racial segregation as “inflammatory.” A high school junior expressed that the district had offered her “little support” in understanding her L.G.B.T.Q. identity. Another parent, a military veteran, claimed that his service taught him “there is no oppression here.”

The issues prompting board actions mirrored concerns shared by a wide range of parents nationwide, irrespective of political affiliation, such as school closures during the pandemic. However, a new group of Republicans elected in 2021 was particularly focused on matters of race, gender, sexuality, and American history.

The board banned library books deemed to contain “age-inappropriate sexualized content,” removing around twenty titles from the high school, including notable works like Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and John Irving’s “The Cider House Rules.”

Aubrie Schulz, a 16-year-old junior at Pennridge High School, expressed frustration over the limited selection in the library. She observed that while adults debated issues of gender, sex, and race, such discussions had minimal direct impact on students.

“We can access all the information on our phones,” she pointed out.

The school board implemented additional policies as well.

Transgender students were prohibited from using bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, and teachers were cautioned against discussing the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021, despite a board member’s presence at Trump’s rally that day.

The board also reduced the number of social studies credits needed for graduation and hired consultant Jordan Adams to evaluate and rewrite the curriculum. Adams had previously worked with Hillsdale College, which produces K-12 educational materials inspired by classical Christian teachings. His hiring stirred dissent on the board, even among some Republicans, who deemed him unqualified and inexperienced.

Several board members who supported the curriculum changes either declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries.

Many educators viewed Adams’s hiring as a significant concern. His curriculum replaced a mandatory ninth-grade history course focused on the 19th century with a class prioritizing civics and the American founding—subjects emphasized by Republican policymakers, including Trump. One of the readings was a 1798 letter from John Adams to Massachusetts militia members, asserting that the U.S. Constitution was “made only for a moral and religious people.”

“Morale in the building was so low,” recalled Robert Cousineau, a veteran social studies teacher and parent in the district. While he appreciated the emphasis on primary sources, he felt the material was overly “philosophical” for ninth graders.

Between 2022 and 2023, teacher resignations in the district more than doubled.

In an interview, Adams acknowledged that educators often have “limited exposure” to research indicating that younger students can handle a more challenging curriculum, something he aimed to demonstrate in training sessions.

Ultimately, he was not afforded that opportunity.

His hiring was a major motivator for many voters. John Karmazin, a 35-year-old industrial mechanic and father of two elementary students in Pennridge, identified as politically right-leaning. Nevertheless, he disapproved of the idea of outsourcing curriculum development to Adams for $125 an hour.

He and his wife had moved to the area in part due to the schools and felt disillusioned to see “politics getting in the way.”

In fall 2023, Democrats gained a majority on the school board. Joan Cullen, who had attended the Trump rally, resigned, and Adams’s new curriculum was withdrawn midway through the academic year.

A New Board

One of the new board’s initial actions was to revise the high school bathroom policy, citing civil rights regulations from the Biden administration. Now, a set of bathrooms is accessible to transgender students based on their chosen gender.

Recently, the board enacted a new policy regarding library materials, eliminating references to gender and sexuality.

However, Superintendent Angelo Berrios announced further book removals at the high school, including dozens of manga graphic novels for their “explicit graphic displays of sexual acts,” as well as “Blue is the Warmest Color,” a graphic novel depicting a first lesbian romance.

Books previously banned by the former board were not automatically reinstated; staff members were tasked with reviewing them for “age-inappropriate” content. “Beloved” and five other titles have returned to library shelves, but “The Cider House Rules,” which addresses abortion themes, remains banned along with ten other works.

Board President Wurz committed to publishing all high school library acquisitions online, allowing parents to review them and submit complaints.

Not all Democratic board members are pleased with the ongoing scrutiny of library books.

“It reinforces the notion that there’s something to be suspicious about concerning our librarians,” remarked Leah Foster Rash, a Democratic board member and district parent.

However, conservative activists and school board members were not the only ones interested in reviewing the district’s reading lists. Latifah Jordan, an early childhood teacher, relocated her family from Philadelphia to Bucks County in 2023 to escape gun violence.

Their experience in the new district was disappointing.

Her daughter, Laniya, 17, reported hearing white students repeatedly use a racial slur in school hallways, sometimes directed at Black students like herself and her brother, Trequan, 15.

The school’s demographic is predominantly white, with over 80 percent of students being white and less than 3 percent Black.

The siblings attributed part of the problem to their teacher’s approach to John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” Trequan noted that his ninth-grade English teacher permitted students to recite the racial slur in full while reading the book aloud, without discussing its historical context or the harm it could inflict.

Ms. Jordan argued that regardless of the book’s literary value, it should not be included in the curriculum.

“Why would you teach this book in a school where there are Black children in an already hostile environment?” she questioned.

Her family ultimately moved away and collaborated with others to file a federal civil rights complaint against the school system, alleging a pattern of race and gender discrimination and bullying.

Through a spokesperson, Superintendent Berrios declined an interview but stated that his administration would not focus on revisiting past conflicts or engaging in debates about the politicization of public education.

He asserted that slurs are not tolerated and that the district investigates all reported complaints.

Lauren Bradley, a parent involved in the Democratic campaign for change on the school board, acknowledged that the school system also faces pressure from left-leaning parents.

“When my children discuss the Civil War at home, I want to know, ‘What are you learning about the Civil War?’” she expressed.

Karmazin, the right-leaning father, expressed satisfaction with the new political balance.

He emphasized that he does not want any part of history to be withheld from his first and second graders as they grow—“the good and the bad, the warts—everything.”

But he insists on knowing precisely what they are learning.

“Parents should be informed,” he stated, “about everything.”