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![\"Alexandra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/soud-en-2025-11-26-1-1024x768.jpg\")
Alexandra Wissler, one of Souderton\u2019s newly-elected board members, told WHYY News ahead of Wednesday\u2019s meeting that the board\u2019s decision is a \u201cvery rushed, nontransparent process.\u201d (Emily Neil\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\nAlexandra Wissler, one of the newly-elected board members, told WHYY News ahead of Wednesday\u2019s meeting that the board\u2019s decision is a \u201cvery rushed, nontransparent process.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ran on a slate of accountability and transparency, so this process today goes right along with that,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to have a better relationship with the community, a better relationship with the staff and students, and bringing it to be a more student-focused board. A lot of the things that have been happening recently, we think, have gone away from a student focus, so that will be our priority.\u201d
\nAlexandra Wissler, one of Souderton\u2019s newly-elected board members, told WHYY News ahead of Wednesday\u2019s meeting that the board\u2019s decision is a \u201cvery rushed, nontransparent process.\u201d (Emily Neil\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n
Board member Kimberly Wheeler said during the meeting that she supported Brong\u2019s appointment because of his decades of experience on the board.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m voting for someone who is experienced, because as we are getting four new board members, I would like someone who also has experience,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve only been on this board two years, I am still learning. There is still a lot going on, and I would like to not have five brand-new board members, which is why I voted \u2018yes.\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n
The board continues to face criticism stemming from board member William Formica\u2019s lewd social media comment about former Vice President Kamala Harris, which sparked outrage<\/a> and calls for his resignation<\/a> in 2024. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit<\/a> last November, alleging free speech and due process violations. Following School Board President Stephen Nelson\u2019s nomination of Brong to fill the vacancy, dozens of attendees stood up and gave their names to object under the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.\n<\/p>\n Victor Verbeke, a Harleysville resident who served on the school board as a Republican from 2005-2009, said the board\u2019s actions Wednesday were \u201cimproper and illegal.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey accepted Mr. Brong\u2019s resignation, and \u2026 10 seconds later, the motion was made to put him back on the board,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s improper, and it smacks of what the issue has been here at Souderton for the past five, six years, just lack of any sunshine, or \u2026 just lack of any adherence to what the community is interested in.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Verbeke said he wants to see less partisanship and politics on the board, and hopes that the new members contribute to that shift.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I hope to happen is that \u2026 from what the board present here today heard, the community, by its election three weeks ago, and by the voices heard today, we are not going to stand anymore for this lack of transparency and just this disregard of the voices of this community,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexandra Wissler, one of the newly-elected board members, told WHYY News ahead of Wednesday\u2019s meeting that the board\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[200,28,223,30,29,27492],"class_list":{"0":"post-46648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-montgomery-county","9":"tag-pennsylvania","10":"tag-pennsylvania-education","11":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","12":"tag-pennsylvania-news","13":"tag-souderton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/soud-en-2025-11-26-4-1024x768.jpg\")
Dozens of attendees stood up to object to the appointment of William Brong to the school board under the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act at Souderton Area School District\u2019s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (Emily Neil\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n