'It stops now': Central Bucks' Lenape principal warns students of police response over protest posts

The Lenape Middle School principal warned students Thursday afternoon she would get the police involved if any videos or pictures of a protest in support of a suspended teacher taken from inside the building found their way online.

A video, taken from outside the Central Bucks School District school, of the announcement made it to Instagram. Principal Geanine Saullo can be heard over a loud speaker threatening to call police involvement.

A district spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment Thursday, and a message placed with the confidential secretary to the superintendent was not answered.

The incident was allegedly sparked when student protesters were giving out free pizza to other students who took a flyer about eighth-grade history teacher Andrew Burgess.

Burgess was suspended last week for reasons the school district has not disclosed, but students and others in the community say it was due to him helping a bullied transgender student contact the U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Office.

"I’m telling you right now, if you have a picture or a video on your phone from inside this school building, you better delete it — this second. Take your phone out and get rid of it. I find out one picture or video is on your phone, it will be sent to the police. Delete it now," Saullo can be heard telling students.

"No one deserves to be harassed, or abused, or made fun of, or part of your punchline. We are tired of it. It stops now. The rest of your lunch will be in silence. Do not get up …" Saullo says before the video cuts out.

The protest organizer who filmed and posted the video on an Instagram account supporting Burgess said they began filming after students rushed back inside during a lunch period around noon. The organizer was at the middle school to deliver pizza donated by community businesses to students who have been protesting throughout the week in support of Burgess.

The organizer, a Central Bucks High School West junior, had driven to the back of the school where students were outside for lunch.

After the middle schoolers began flocking to the free pizza, they were soon called back inside by teachers and the principal's announcement followed soon after, the organizer said.

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Saullo then allegedly confronted the high school student. That student, who brought the pizza, said Saullo threatened to have them suspended over the disturbance.

As the organizer packed up the donated pizza and began driving to the front of the school, two Central Bucks Regional Police Department officers arrived on the scene.

The department was able to confirm the officers were sent to the school, but no one was available to confirm details of what happened when they responded.

The organizer said they were told by police the school barred them from returning but no charges were filed against any protesters on Thursday.

Later Thursday, Saullo sent a note to parents saying "there was a police involved incident that caused a disruption to the learning environment." She said an "adult and two minors in a vehicle trespassed" on the Doylestown campus and "attempted tp distract lunch service..."

She said that there would be "heightened security presence" at arrival and throughout the day "to keep our kids and staff safe." Saullo made no mention of online posting or photos or videos on students' personal phones in her letter to parents.

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Students planned to protest all week for the return of Burgess, but Friday's student protest is expected to start around 7 a.m. before school begins, and pick up when school lets out around 3 in the afternoon. They do not plan to protest during the school day.

Parents, students and teachers from the district have rallied behind the teacher over the past week, though Central Bucks Superintendent Abe Lucabaugh said Tuesday night the reason for Burgess' suspension has been spun into a "false narrative" that is helping to divide the community.

Lucabaugh added that a number of alleged actions by the district in recent weeks have been mischaracterized online to cast the district as transphobic and unsupportive of its LGBTQ students.

Students at that same Central Bucks school board meeting on Tuesday pushed back on Lucabuagh's impromptu statements, saying the district's actions, like removing pride flags from some schools for "political" reasons, only make the district less welcoming for those students.

A Change.org petition last Saturday currently has over 4,700 signatures.