Pennridge
Tensions surfaced at last week’s Pennridge School Board meeting as several residents accused board member Chris Kaufman of having a conflict of interest tied to his role on the Upper Bucks County Technical School’s Joint Operating Committee (JOC).
According to the Bucks County Herald, Kaufman, a Democrat, also works for the Quakertown Community School District, one of three districts that send students to the tech school alongside Pennridge and Palisades.
Speakers argued that Kaufman’s professional ties to Quakertown compromise his ability to act impartially on the JOC, which makes decisions affecting all three districts, according to the report.
East Rockhill resident and Republican Pennridge board candidate Brian McMullen called Kaufman’s dual roles a matter of “integrity, trust, and transparency,” while others accused him of hypocrisy for criticizing a fellow board member’s tech school employment earlier this year, according to the report.
Kaufman rejected those claims, saying both Pennridge’s solicitor and the JOC’s solicitor found no conflict. He emphasized that the committee does not vote on Quakertown’s finances and said he would recuse himself from any vote where a direct conflict might arise, according to the Herald.
The dispute follows recent controversy over Republican board member Jordan Blomgren’s hiring as a special education teacher at the tech school while she served on the JOC, from which she has since resigned.
