‘We’re gonna hold him accountable’: Calls grow for Bill Formica’s resignation at tense Souderton school board meeting

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Tensions ran high at the Souderton Area School District board meeting Thursday night, as parents, teachers and community members demanded board member Bill Formica’s resignation, while supporters defended his position.

Last week, Formica published a letter apologizing for lewd comments he posted to X about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Formica responded, “She blew a lot of dudes,” to a post asking about Harris’ political achievements. Formica has since deleted his X account. In a written apology, Formica said his comments were an “impulsive and unprofessional response” and that his behavior was “misguided and inappropriate.”

The auditorium at Indian Valley Middle School was at its capacity of 550 people Thursday night, and some people were turned away. Inside, people were agitated and often disruptive when speakers took the microphone.

At the board meeting, Formica again apologized but also decried the threats against him and his family. He said he was being targeted because of “partisan politics.”

“Tonight I anticipate hearing the tired old labeling applied to all white alpha males to shut up,” Formica said.

He said he is not a racist or a misogynist.

“I challenge anybody here to show me a more racially diverse family than mine,” Formica said. “I have two African American grandsons. I also have daughters and granddaughters that I want to flourish, and I’ll do anything to help them achieve what they want in life. How can I possibly be a racist or misogynist?”

Since news about his post broke, more than 2,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Formica’s resignation. The school board and district do not have the power to remove a board member.

Detractors called him out not just for the Harris tweet but for what one speaker described as a “pattern of bigotry and hatred” in his prior posts before and during his tenure as a school board member.

At the protest before the meeting, around 60 people demonstrated by holding up enlarged screenshots of those posts, along with signs demanding his resignation.

“We have 10 other quotes that he has said on Twitter or other social media publicly about teachers, about disrespecting teachers, disrespecting people of color, disrespecting the LGBTQ+ community, disrespecting Spanish speakers, immigrants,” said Jane Spigel, a parent who is also on the board of Souderton Area for All, an organization working to advocate for marginalized students.

Lilyan Jamison, a first-year student at Souderton Area High School, said Formica’s statements on social media do not represent the values of the district.

“I think that it’s important how other people view our district and our character through our school board members, and unfortunately, I feel like this is just leaving a stain on the community’s reputation,” she said.

Around 30 of Formica’s supporters gathered yards from the protest, singing Christian songs and quoting Bible verses.

Kaitlin Derstine, a leader of the local conservative group who organized the counter-protest, said the purpose was to “be here to say not all the community is demanding Bill Formica’s resignation.”

“The man made a mistake. He took it down. He apologized for it. Move on,” she said. “We’re not bowing to cancel culture, we’re not bowing to the harassment and the threats that they have sent our way.”

Stephanie Jamison, a parent and organizer of the pre-meeting rally, said those demanding Formica’s resignation are not representing “cancel culture”— they’re calling for “accountability.”

“He hasn’t even offered any meaningful action of restoration,” she said. “He hasn’t in any way, even really acknowledged that what he said was incredibly offensive. He only apologized to his supporters. And so he can go say whatever he wants, anywhere he wants, but we’re gonna hold him accountable for what he says.”

Jamison said she and other parents will continue to demonstrate.

“Quite frankly, I know we’re gonna be here every meeting until this man does resign,” she said.