The Bucks County Court of Common Pleas issued an order approving a school district reapportionment petition filed by the Pennsbury School District Board of School Directors pursuant to Section 303 of the Public School Code of 1949.
An unincorporated association, Concerned Residents of Pennsbury (CROP), which had developed a competing plan for the School District, appealed.
CROP asserted three arguments: 1) that the approved plan did not satisfy the “one person, one vote” requirement of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution; 2) that the approved plan did not satisfy the requirement of Section 303(b)(3) of the Public School Code that the population of voting regions in school board elections be “as nearly equal as possible;” and 3) that the trial court abused its discretion in approving the plan over its plan.
The appeals court concluded that none of these contentions was valid. Contrary to CROP’s assertions, the trial court judge, in her well-reasoned opinion, correctly applied the law and acted well within her discretion.