The Parkland School Board met March 17 where student representative Pooja Kulkarni shared student news across the district with the board.

Elementary students celebrated Read Across America with many activities.

Fifth graders at Kratzer Elementary School attended the culmination of the district’s annual food drive collecting over 12,000 items.

Solicitor Jessica Moyer, Esq. from King Spry and Matthew Anderson, Esq. provided the board with information on the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance.

On March 5, Upper Macungie Township adopted a LERTA ordinance, which would provide tax incentives to encourage redevelopment in a designated area of the township.

Under the ordinance, property owners who improve or redevelop properties in the district could receive tax abatements that gradually decrease over a 10-year period. Pennsylvania has secured a $3.5 billion private sector investment from Eli Lilly and Company to build a site in Fogelsville.

The school board will be asked to make a decision in April or May on providing similar tax incentives for Eli Lilly and Company.

There were many residents who wanted to raise issues of concern.

A resident thanked the board for the exemption from instruction clarification policy regarding what is expected of the district and families who may choose to opt out. He would like the district to add that any student who chooses to opt out for whatever reason would not be penalized by opting out from instruction.

A resident addressed the board regarding recent middle school cyber bullying, racial slurs, bullying and students pressured into buying drugs. She said the dealer is still in school and continues to deal.

“I don’t blame the district for my child’s choices. I’m a parent. Those are my responsibilities, the resident said. “I don’t ask the district to take any role in my responsibilities as a parent but I do blame the district for not protecting my child and not taking accountability for their actions. ‘Sorry’ goes a long way. ‘We screwed up, we could have done better goes a long way.’ It’s a poor example of us as educators and administrators that we are displaying.”

She encouraged the board to “sit with me or us as parents and taxpayers and learn why this district has such a significant bullying problem. It’s huge.”

Another resident also talked about bullying saying she was “the voice for my daughter who cannot be here ... because she is currently in an inpatient facility. She is there because Parkland High School failed to keep her safe. She is there because her desperate plea of ‘I can’t do this any more’ was ignored turning into self harm.”

She said her daughter has an IEP for which she said the district “has a federal, legal and moral obligation to protect.

“You have failed,” she said.

“While the aggressors were allowed to keep their seats in the class, my daughter was forced into a safety hold at home at the recommendation of her doctor until the school could ensure her safety. The district effectively exiled the victim while rewarding the bullies with normalcy. That is not zero tolerance; that is administrative cowardice. The hospital has confirmed the connection; her crisis is a direct result of the school based trauma. Because the district refused to move the aggressors, she felt her only escape was to hurt herself and even considered death because she cannot go back to that school,” she said.

“How many children have to reach the point of suicide attempts before no contact order actually means no contact?

She said her daughter’s peers have come to her saying they are too afraid to go to administration because they know nothing will be done.

She demanded immediate systematic review of how principals handle these reports and said when her daughter is medically cleared to return, she wants to return to a school where the bullies are moved, not her. “My daughter is fighting for her life tonight; I expect the board to start fighting for her safety.”

The grandmother of the student asked the question, “What is the Parkland School District actually doing to understand and combat bullying at Parkland High School and where is the evidence that it works or that progress is being made. We are not seeing a functional system.”

She said she recently started a Facebook group for individuals who report being bullied at Parkland High School. “There are 350 members in this 2-week old group; 77% were female and 65% had to seek psychological care. It’s a clear signal that families are speaking to each other because they don’t feel that the district is listening. This is a long standing problem and you have known about it for years.”

Another resident appeared before the board to ask questions about the data center that will be across the street from the high school. “I’m concerned about the emergency services that may be required for this data center. The requirements are unique and extensive.

“The National Fire Protection Association standards require they have rapid acting non-water based fire suppressants in the IT spaces of the data centers. The applicant has not specified what they plan to do or how they plan to support local first responders.

“The cost should not be borne by us. We do know Atlas will be storing a lot of diesel and it presents a big risk.” She also asked if different emergency drills will be needed at the high school.

Another resident provided further research opposing the Atlas data center project and asked the board to take the position of opposing the proposed data center. The actual company running the data center is Edged Energy.

His main concern is the air and noise pollution in the proximity to the high school. He provided cases just in the last 12 months of opposition.

He and his colleagues started a public petition with over 2,000 signatures of support from South Whitehall and the surrounding communities in less than two weeks.

“I’m asking you to take a stand that we do not sacrifice our children’s health for the potential tax revenue from a data center.”

Another resident was concerned about the safety and noise that would be created with this data center during normal operations and emergency situations such as power outages with 356 diesel generators and 1,056 rooftop chillers. She said all of the testing will happen during school hours weekdays and the noise level will be disruptive to the students.

An additional six residents spoke to oppose the data center.

A resident talked about former performing arts director for Parkland Frank Anonia who pleaded guilty in 2025 following an accusation he secretly recorded a student changing clothes. He was charged with five felony counts and nine misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy.

“Less than 36 hours later during the Dec. 2 , 2025 school board meeting, there was no single word of contrition, empathy or remorse for the victims of those crimes. Not one acknowledgment, not one comment that we must and will do better.

“Since that didn’t happen, allow me to say this now – let me on behalf of the Parkland community, to the victims both those we know about and the ones we may never know about, I am deeply sorry for what you endured. No child should ever experience what you did. I sincerely hope you find peace and healing and I promise to continue pushing for accountability and stronger safeguards so something like this is not likely to happen again.”

A resident said she is deeply concerned four school board members signed a public petition against ICE as board members not private citizens. “This implies they are speaking for all 64,000 in the district. I don’t agree and I’m offended my voice was assumed.

“I urge this board to reflect when it comes to divisive national issues, you have a responsibility to represent all of us not just your personal stance.”

Parkland Superintendent Dr. Mark Madson said the district is at the mercy of the township in waiting for an actual plan on the data center.

Madson also addressed the residents who spoke about harassment and bullying.

“I feel for the families that came to talk about their children. My heart goes out to you. We understand that unfortunately in our society there are issues that occur. Bullying and harassment are compounded by social media in today’s society which makes it hard. I just want to acknowledge that. I am not able to talk about any one case.

“Students are at the top of the priority for our staff. I welcome the opportunity to talk to anyone if something is missed, then we have to own it. We can only take action when we have the information to do that. We do follow up. We have practice in place at each school level. We take it very seriously. Every single allegation we follow up on. We don’t let those things fall through the cracks.

“We want to make sure that we support every single child to make sure they feel supported in this district.”