Chess club hosts charity tournament to raise funds for local wildlife center
Page 4 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA, 19312
Volume 75 No. 6
April 25, 2025
letter from the editors: it’s been an honor
senior wins second consecutive state diving championship
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TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PUSHES TO CLOSE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TESD responds to directives threatening federal funding, DEI
Photo illustration by Mareska Chettiar, Aren Framil and Jeffrey Heng/The SPOKE
District-wide impacts: The district receives some money from the federal government annually for assorted programs. On March 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to close the federal Department of Education, which oversees federal funding for education.
By Aren Framil and Jeffrey Heng, CoEditor-in-Chief and Co-Opinion Editor On March 20, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14242, which outlined major changes to the Department of Education, the federal agency that grants aid to students nationwide and enforces educational policy. The order calls to close the department and “return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
Through programs and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the department allocates funds and money from the federal government to schools and students. It is also responsible for collecting data on education for the public to access and managing student loans. In its 2024-25 fiscal year General Fund Budget, the Tredyffrin/ Easttown School District listed that it received around 0.5% of its funding from “Federal Sources” — $865,570 of its total budget of more than $181 million. “We don’t get that much money from the federal government
relative to our budget. That said, the money that we do receive is directed to some important programs within the district,” school board president Todd Kantorczyk said. “We currently believe that all the district programs are in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, and so we do not believe that our funding is at risk.” Of the district’s reported $865,570 in federal funding for the 2024-25 fiscal year, almost $150,000 came from Title I of ESEA for “Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged” and $600,000 came from the School-Based Access Medicaid
Reimbursement Program. The district receives the rest from Titles II, III and IV of ESEA and the Medical Assistance Reimbursement for Administrative Claiming Program. The department also oversees special education programs such as those outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The act covers a portion of expenses for the district to support students with disabilities. IDEA includes students who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), legally mandated documents outlining schedules and services to meet a student’s special education needs.
In the 2024-25 school year, the Department of Education issued $1,002,720 to the district from IDEA through the Chester County Intermediate Unit, marked as local revenue on the budget. According to director of special education Nicole Roy, the amount of funds TESD receives from IDEA is only one part of the district’s special education funding. “This funding, though important, doesn’t fully cover the costs required to provide the necessary support for students with disabilities,” Roy wrote in an email. “For students who have IEPs, the funding from the Fed-
eral (Department of Education) plays a role in ensuring these students have access to the services they need, but the district still relies heavily on state and local resources to meet the full scope of these needs.” Since taking office, Trump has threatened to rescind federal education funding over several issues. On Jan. 29, he signed Executive Order 14190, which aims to end “discriminatory equity ideology” in K-12 schooling. On April 3, the Trump administration sent out a memo to state and local education officials, including a certification for school
officials to sign within 10 days to affirm the absence of “illegal DEI practices” or lose federal funding. The Pennsylvania Department of Education sent a letter to school officials in the Commonwealth on April 9 instructing them not to take action. “We have programs that have some sort of equity component to them. We believe all these programs are in compliance with applicable state and federal law,” Kantorczyk said. “So, we don’t plan on changing any of these programs at the moment.” Continued on page 3.
PIAA changes transgender athlete policy Faith Zantua Co-News Editor
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), the governing body for various school sponsored sports games in Pennsylvania, removed the transgender policy and amended Article XVI of its policy and procedure manual on Mixed Gender Participation. The organization announced the changes “to be in effect immediately” at the Feb. 19 PIAA board of directors’ meeting. The article cites President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed on Feb. 5 as the reasoning behind the decision. The organization now references “sex” instead of “gender” and states that the “school” instead of “principal” is in charge of determining if a student can participate in the amended section. It adds that “schools are required to consult with their school solicitors relative to compliance with the Order” 14201. “The PIAA board of directors’ position on the executive order is binding to all PIAA member schools that accept federal funding,” said PIAA assistant executive director Lyndsay Barna in a statement to the Beaver County Times. “The board is following the order.” The executive order states its purpose is to only allow athletes assigned female at birth to compete in women’s sports through rescinding federal funding from educational programs that do not comply. Written prior to the executive order and PIAA changes, TESD Regulation 6146 states that district schools will follow the PIAA’s By-Law Article XVI of mixed gender participation. It also states that although athletes generally will compete on sports teams that correspond with their birth gender, the district can
make exceptions as long as they align with the PIAA and do not prevent the team from competing with “other teams of the District’s team’s gender designation” n PIAA-sponsored games. Several Conestoga teams participate in PIAA-sponsored tournaments as part of District 1. Maureen Gregory is the District 1 Women’s Officials Representative for the organization. “My cousin is transgender, and I love him unconditionally. It is a years’ long process that involves so much more than most of us will ever know. This decision, carefully and thoughtfully made, is not decided overnight,” Gregory wrote in an email. “Anyone interested in learning more should do some research. What is a level playing field? The answer is constantly evolving as more is learned and understood. In the meantime, sports’ governing bodies, i.e., PIAA and the NCAA, set their own policies and procedures.” In response to Executive Order 14201, the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics also revised its policies to only allow athletes assigned female at birth to participate in women’s sports. Junior and Conestoga Gender/Sexuality Alliance co-president Celeste Russo competes in wheelchair basketball games. She feels that the executive order and related policy changes fuel claims regarding the LGBTQ+ community that are misinformed, such as that support for transgender athlete participation in women’s sports is “letting quote, unquote men playing in women’s sports.” “It negatively impacts the (LGBTQ+) community for no reason. And, as an athlete, I know that sports are for everybody,” Russo said. “I really think that it’s a lot of pointing fingers, and it’s a lot of saying things that aren’t true just because we’re the community they’re talking about.”
On March 6, the Women’s Law Project and Education Law Center wrote an open letter condemning the PIAA policy. Representatives from the Philadelphia School District stated that the district would allow transgender students to compete in sports matching their gender identity and that competition participation would be “resolved on a case-by-case basis” as according to Philadelphia School District school board policy 252. Valerie Cunningham, an adviser of the Conestoga Gender/ Sexuality Alliance, said that some
LGBTQ+ students feel nervous regarding legislation affecting the LGBTQ+ community. “There’s hateful rhetoric that is coming out through that conversation that students are feeling, whether they are a transgender athlete or not,” Cunningham said. “I think that this conversation is something that is also happening on a broader level, just about the right for transgender people to exist, and sometimes that’s happening under the guise of the conversation around transgender individuals in sports.”
Miya Cao/The SPOKE
Persistent protestors: Main Line community members gather on the edge of the Devon Tesla showroom with signs and posters as part of the “Tesla Takedown” movement. The movement named March 29 as the “global day of action.”
Residents join ‘Tesla Takedown’ Miya Cao
Co-Copy Editor
Faith Zantua/The SPOKE
Competing amid change: Student athletes walk to the gym doors. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association amended its transgender athlete policy, citing the signing of Executive Order 14201 as reasoning for the changes.
On March 29, approximately 430 people gathered on the edge of the Tesla showroom in Devon on Lancaster Avenue from 11 a.m. to noon, according to organizer and Berwyn resident Janet Gilbert. Holding signs, they denounced businessman Elon Musk’s involvement in President Donald Trump’s administration. The protestors called to “defund Musk” and reduce his influence on U.S. politics through encouraging people to sell their Tesla vehicles and stock. The protest was part of nationwide grassroots movement “Tesla Takedown,” which named March 29 as its “global day of action.” More than 200 protests took place that day in cities nationwide at Tesla showrooms and charging stations. Charles Schermer, a Philadelphia resident, traveled to Devon to attend the protest. “What I like about this movement: It’s very focused, mainly on Elon Musk, and, in turn, Donald Trump. It’s focused on what Elon Musk and Donald Trump love most, and that’s money. If we can get people to stop buying Teslas, to stop buying Tesla stock and to turn their Teslas in, the stock value will go down,” Schermer
said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here, as well as send a message against the oligarchy and fascism and authoritarianism that’s coming with it.” Gilbert started her involvement with the movement as a participant. She saw a post about it on Bluesky, a social media app. Gilbert attended what she believes was the first protest in Devon on Feb. 22. The movement in Devon uses Action Network, a movement organization platform, to schedule and spread the word about the weekly protests. “I don’t know where (the protestors) came from, and they all had signs, and they were just waiting for the first person to stand up,” Gilbert said. “And the next week, we had a little protest, also about 10 people, and the (Philadelphia) Inquirer came and interviewed us. Since then, last week, we had about 250 (protestors) or so. This week, 426.” Gilbert’s motivation to take action and protest against Musk stems from his involvement in the federal government. Particularly, she disapproves of his use of monetary incentives — such as when Musk gave two Wisconsin voters $1 million checks, according to an Associated Press article. “I think that Elon Musk has a noxious influence on U.S.
politics, paying money to basically bribe people to vote or to register to vote with millions of dollars, lotteries for people to register to vote,” Gilbert said. “I don’t think that a billionaire should have that much influence on our democracy.” Class of 2023 alumna Lily Robinson attended the protest with her mother while she was on spring break from college. To her, the presence of the community at the protest was an active sign of discontent. “I wasn’t expecting this many people to be here. It’s kind of fun. I think it shows that there’s a lot more (response) towards what’s incumbent,” Robinson said. “I think showing that folks, even Republicans and people that voted for Trump, are disappointed and upset with what’s going on.” Scan the QR code to watch an accompanying package