How the Independence Law Center is gaining momentum in Susquehanna Valley school districts

    HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (WGAL) -- Since the start of 2024, nearly a dozen Susquehanna Valley school districts have contacted the Independence Law Center – a religious rights law firm that helps school boards write policies many find controversial.

The ILC's growing presence and the increasing divide it's causing within districts is why News 8's McKenna Alexander is taking a closer look into the firm to learn if there's a risk behind its representation.

McKenna has been attending school board meetings over the past seven months to report on the growing number of districts working with the Independence Law Center.

Attorneys from the law firm rarely attend these meetings, leaving parents wondering who exactly is behind the policies they believe are harmful and how the ILC has managed to sweep school districts in the Susquehanna Valley.

Parents have questions

"Nobody has any connection with these people. We don't know where to find them. We don't know how to call them. We don't know their names," South Western School District teacher Kelly Lynch said.

The rapid rise in representation by the ILC is sparking many district parents to question who these attorneys are and how they are managing to gain such traction.

The ILC's website states a mission to "defend the rights of the people to freely exercise their religion, as well as all the other First Amendment freedoms."

"We really focus on state issues, which is helpful because there's a lot of issues that don't rise to national prominence, but there are people who need free legal advice and legal services, representation on those issues. And so, we fill that vacuum," said Jeremy Samek, senior counsel at the ILC.

ILC's connections

During our 8 On Your Side investigation, we found the ILC is connected to several conservative and oftentimes Christian organizations.

The Pennsylvania Family Institute created the Independence Law Center in 2006.

Since 2014, tax records show the PFI received nearly $140,000 in funding from the Alliance Defending Freedom – the national Christian group behind the bill that would eventually overturn Roe v. Wade.

Samek and Randall Wenger, the ILC's chief counsel, have filed court briefs for the Alliance Defending Freedom, as well as another Christian conservative group, the Family Policy Alliance.

The PFI is also linked to another Christian group, referring to the Family Research Council as a "sister organization" in a 2011 newsletter.

But Samek, who also serves as chief of staff for the PFI, denies any association with the Family Research Council.

"We partner with lots of different organizations. And so to say, but that doesn't make you a group who's like, at the parent corporation of that organization," Samek said.

When asked if it would be true that the PFI does partner with the Family Research Council, Samek said, "In the past, we have partnered with certain issues."

Researchers with the Southern Poverty Law Center, who study groups like the ILC, argue this is part of the ILC strategy: denying these partnerships in order to fly under the radar.

"I mean, for PFI, I think that legacy goes back several years," said R.G. Cravens, a senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Cravens is talking about the ILC's history of working with hate groups as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Cravens said there's a growing trend in hate groups operating at the local and state level – especially when it comes to one particular issue.

"We documented a network of groups that sort of trade in the demonization of LGBTQ people, especially false narratives and conspiracies about trans people," Cravens said.

Even though the Southern Poverty Law Center does not label the ILC as a hate group, many of the organizations it works with – namely, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom – are all designated by the center as LGBTQ+ hate groups.

The ILC said the Southern Poverty Law Senter is not a trusted source of information.

"They're a political activist group to the extreme," Samek said.

While the ILC may reject these hate group designations, many parents use them as grounds for their opposition.

Samek argues that real hate comes from those who identify it.

"When people use the 'anti-this' label, or the 'hate group' label, or the 'you don't care about kids' label to these board members, they're attacking these children," Samek said.

Secret meeting

"Far Christian right, in the last couple of years, they've been around for a long time, but they've really gained a lot of traction recently, and there's a lot of that organizing that's happening in Pennsylvania," Cravens said.

It's York County, where 12 of the 16 school boards there all flipped to conservative majorities in 2023.

Many new board members were endorsed by a conservative political action committee, the PA Economic Growth PAC, which claims voters elected 48 of its 51 endorsed candidates in the 2023 race.

Documents obtained by News 8 reveal correspondence between the PAC and those candidates – namely, a secret meeting in a plain brown brick building they called "The Warehouse."

"That sounds like you've got something to be afraid of. It sounds like you are trying to hide things from the public," Lynch said.

On March 15, endorsed and elected board members were called to a space on East Market Street in York, instructed to use the rear entrance and look for a flag indicating the meeting location.

Correspondence with the board members was organized by Veronica Gemma, the PAC's education director. She faced criticism for suggesting diversity book bans during her previous term on the Central York School Board.

The email invitation included fine print that stressed the need for confidentiality, with a warning to board members that photo and video during the meeting is prohibited.

Screenshots also reveal Gemma texting a group chat with a reminder to only send two to three board members, with an explicit reference to the federal and state Sunshine laws requiring transparency when four or more board members gather to discuss district business.

That district business included discussion of the Independence Law Center.

"This wasn't a random choice of law firms. This wasn't a, 'You know, we've heard good things about this group, and you know, maybe it'd be interesting.' This was a predetermined plan," Southern York School District resident Rachael Zeleny said.

In May 2023, the PAC posted its list of endorsed candidates on its Facebook page with a caption certifying all had signed an "endorsement pledge."

The pledge states that endorsed candidates, if elected, must vote on several things, including the overturning of critical race theory, implementing policies relating to Title IX and reviewing solicitor contracts to replace as needed.

Forty percent of York County school boards have already acted on that last pledge, bringing in the ILC to replace or work with district solicitors.

When Samek was asked if the ILC was aware of the endorsement pledge, he said, "Never heard of that. No."

The Pennsylvania Family Institute, which helps fund the ILC, received a $1,000 donation from the PAC's president in 2020.

Samek, despite being photographed at a PAC event with endorsed candidates, denies any prior knowledge of the secret warehouse meeting.

"I first heard about all of that after the Right-To-Know requests, and there was a newspaper article talking about that we were on an agenda," Samek said.

News of that meeting has now reached the Education Law Center, whose attorneys said several dozen parents reached out requesting legal help regarding secret school board collaboration in the Susquehanna Valley.

"What are the intentions of any particular organization that's trying to have influence in our school district if they are so intent on having secret meetings that are not open to the public, where records are not available under the Sunshine Act or Right-To-Know law? How good can that be for our school if it must be operating under darkness?" said Kristina Moon, senior attorney with Education Law Center.

More to come on the ILC

Coming up in the next installment of a four-part series, our News 8 On Your Side investigation continues with:

- A closer look into closed-door meetings between school boards and the ILC. - A breakdown of why parents are demanding transparency. - A deep dive into the Title IX legality of these controversial policies.