Northern Burlington Board of Education VP Angela Reading has developed a reputation for questioning the inclusive and supportive environment created by local school programs and the sending districts of Northern Burlington, New Jersey. In a public statement released early in 2022, Mrs. Reading accused the No Place for Hate (NPFH) program at Northern Burlington of promoting an “ideology… to supplant parents, guardians, and family…” Although the majority of parents and students spoke out in support of NPFH over the past year and corrected her inaccurate statements, Mrs. Reading has continued her efforts against the program.* 

On November 22nd of this year, Mrs. Reading posted information on a public-facing Facebook group about a North Hanover inclusive school activity. She provided photos of wall posters created by students and, although she blocked out the name of a particular student, she zoomed in on posters with messages of inclusion she found to be offensive. Without discussion with the school or the parents of the students who created those posters, she wrote a lengthy post full of assumptions and accusations lacking concrete evidence or an understanding of the subject matter. Her post incorrectly conflated sexuality and gender-identity with sexual activity, twisting the benign assignment of inclusion into a “perverse” claim of exposing children to sexual content. Furthermore, her post makes unsubstantiated claims against the school district, teachers, the parents, and even the students themselves of endorsing or participating in school activities and topics related to sexual activity that were not true.

Most importantly, by taking and sharing photos of students’ signed wall posters (obfuscated or not) and sharing the specific school in which they were hung on a public-facing social media group intended to amplify the audience, Mrs. Reading has placed both the students’ and their families’ personal safety at risk. Her public actions have created a target for extremist individuals and groups to become involved, twisting the information to form a dangerous narrative that impacts not only the North Hanover community, but the Northern Burlington community, as well. 

Mrs. Reading is within her right to hold her own personal beliefs, but she is subject to social media rules and her actions are held to a higher standard as a member of any Board of Education. It is clear she knew the consequences of her actions, even later aiming to distance herself from any threats or harassment experienced by the targets of her message, and yet she attempted to publicly instigate others to rally against her local district and both the students and parents involved. 

This behavior is unacceptable both as a member of a Board of Education and as a member of the community. This petition demands the following of Mrs. Reading and the Northern Burlington Board of Education:

1. Mrs. Reading must remove her posts and issue a public apology to the teachers, students, and families that were the subject of her accusations and for whom she caused personal risk.
2. Mrs. Reading must resign from her position on the Northern Burlington Board of Education.
3. The Northern Burlington Board of Education must, with immediate effect, remove Mrs. Reading from her position as VP of the Board, as well as her committee positions and her appointments as NJSBA Delegate and BCSBA Delegate.

Anything short of these results constitutes not only endorsement of the poor decisions, misinformation, and dangerous behavior Mrs. Reading exhibited in her recent post, but also endorsement of the language and potential violence of extremists that may result from her actions. 


*A resignation letter from a well-liked teacher expressed concerns of professional threats being made against him just as he was looking to become involved with NPFH. Please refer to past Northern Burlington meeting recordings and an article in the Burlington County Times regarding board statements on NPFH in early 2022: https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/2022/03/11/northern-burlington-nj-bullying-bias-program-no-place-hate/6943045001/