Pennsylvania school board director who refused to vote for ‘cis White male’ president resigns
Upper Moreland School District board member Jennifer Solot, second from left, resigns.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY - A school board member in Montgomery County has decided to resign over a controversial statement that called electing a ‘cis White male’ for president "sending the wrong message."
Upper Moreland School District board member Jennifer Solot made the comments as the acting president during an open board reorganization meeting on December 6. Two names, April Stainback and Greg D’Elia, were being considered as the new president.
Prior to the vote, she offered her opinion on the vote in a statement the school district says has had a "significant impact" on the community.
"I believe that Mr. D’Elia would make an excellent president," Solot said. "However, I feel that electing the only cis white male on this board 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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About a week later, the school district announced she would be resigning from the board in the new year:
"On Tuesday, December 6, Board Director Jennifer Solot made comments at the board’s reorganization meeting that many in our community took offense to. The comments were in relation to the election of a president for the Board of School Directors.
As a result of this incident, Ms. Solot has decided to resign from the board effective January 2, 2023. She wishes to apologize for her poorly chosen words and does not want to be a distraction from the great things happening in our schools on a daily basis. The district thanks Ms. Solot for her five years of service to the Upper Moreland community as a board member.
The comments made by Ms. Solot at the board reorganization meeting were solely hers and were not intended to represent the opinion of the entire UMSD Board of Directors or the district as a whole. Indeed, Board Director Greg D’Elia, who was the subject of her comments, says that he "supports diversity, but these comments did not further diversity and reflected poorly on our community."