Pennsylvania School Board Director Resigns After Uproar Over Vote Against ‘Cis White Male’ President

A Pennsylvania school board member has resigned and apologized after saying at a meeting last week that she was against voting for a “cis white male” to be nominated as board president.

Jennifer Solot, who has served five years on the school board for the Upper Moreland School District, made the comments at an open board reorganization meeting on Dec. 6 as the board was considering electing two individuals, April Stainback and Greg D’Elia, as the new president.

Solot had stated that D’Elia would make an “excellent president” but that she would ultimately not be voting for the candidate, and would instead vote for the incumbent president Stainback.

“I believe that Mr. D’Elia would make an excellent president,” Solot said at the meeting. “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.”

Cis is short for cisgender, a term used to describe someone who identifies as the same sex they were assigned at birth.

“I think that it is important that we practice what we preach. And that our words have strength when they are spoken, whether we speak them from the neighborhood sidewalks or from behind these tables,” she continued.

“Mrs. Stainback has done an exemplary job as president these last few months, and the strength of her performance has earned her my vote tonight,” Solot added.

According to his official website, D’Elia is an “engineer, father, and husband,” who had hoped to be elected to the position of School Board president.

Solot Apologizes for ‘Poorly Chosen Words’

Stainback’s website states that she has lived in Upper Moreland since August 1996 with her husband and their five children, all of whom have either graduated, attend, or will attend Upper Moreland schools.

According to the website, Stainback received endorsements from the UM Republican Committee, UM Democratic Committee, and UMEA for the role of School Board president.

“I care deeply for the schools and the township,” the website states.

Stainback eventually won the presidential position by eight out of nine votes. However, Solot’s comments reportedly sparked uproar among the community.

In a statement on Monday, district Superintendent Susan Elliott and Stainback said that Solot was stepping down from her role, effective Jan. 2, following the comments she made at the board meeting that “many in our community took offense to.”

“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 statement read.

“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,’” the statement continued.

“The district thanks Ms. Solot for her five years of service to the Upper Moreland community as a board member,” the statement added.

The Epoch Times has contacted D’Elia for comment.