PRINTER'S NO. 4140
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
944
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY MURT, KIM, ROZZI, ULLMAN, DONATUCCI, MILLARD AND
HILL-EVANS, JULY 14, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH, JULY 14, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Directing the Children and Youth Committee to establish a
subcommittee to investigate the alleged sexual abuse
committed by William McKendry while he was a teacher in the
Lower Merion School District.
WHEREAS, In the 1980's, William McKendry, a Social Studies
teacher in the Lower Merion School District, allegedly sexually
abused a female student, Elizabeth Goldman; and
WHEREAS, In addition to love letters, gifts, promises of
marriage, sexually explicit discourse and sexually explicit
correspondence, McKendry sexually assaulted and abused this
young woman on numerous occasions in 1985 and 1986; and
WHEREAS, Some of the assaults took place in the Bala Cynwyd
Middle School in Montgomery County; and
WHEREAS, When made aware of the abuse, the Lower Merion
School District settled this matter when a guidance counselor
directed McKendry and Goldman to avoid one another and stay on
their respective floors of the Bala Cynwyd Middle School; and
WHEREAS, At the time, and at no time since, no contact was
ever made with the Pennsylvania Department of Education; and
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WHEREAS, No report of McKendry's actions to the Pennsylvania
Department of Education, nor revocation of McKendry's teaching
credentials were ever made; and
WHEREAS, McKendry was free to abuse again, and the children
of the school district were not afforded proper protection from
an admitted perpetrator of child sexual abuse; and
WHEREAS, In 1999, Goldman, then a medical student at Case
Western Reserve University, met with two administrators from the
Lower Merion School District and physically presented the
correspondence she received from McKendry; and
WHEREAS, Goldman was received by the administrators with
hostility and disdain and was threatened with not being
permitted to leave the building with the physical evidence she
had respectfully presented in good faith; and
WHEREAS, In 2005, Goldman again approached the Lower Merion
School District and was informed that "the Lower Merion School
District considers this matter closed"; and
WHEREAS, The Lower Merion School District refused further
discussions with Goldman, a victim of child sexual abuse by one
of their own teachers; and
WHEREAS, Despite his actions and admissions, McKendry was
still teaching in the Lower Merion School District at this time;
and
WHEREAS, Our Commonwealth can no longer allow institutions to
turn a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of children they
should be protecting; and
WHEREAS, Author Carolyn Spring said "It was that culture of
denial that allowed my abuse to take place to start with. Did
you known it wasn't until 1984 that the Department of Health
added the category of 'sexual abuse' to its list of harms that
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can befall children"; and
WHEREAS, This is a case of alleged sexual abuse by a teacher
which will not be resolved until the truth is known; therefore
be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives direct the
Children and Youth Committee to establish a subcommittee to
investigate the alleged sexual abuse committed by William
McKendry while he was a teacher in the Lower Merion School
District; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the subcommittee compile a report on its
findings and submit a written report to the House of
Representatives no later than December 31, 2020.
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