A five-part docuseries examining the political divisions that shaped Bucks County in the years following the 2020 election is set to air next month.
“Bucks County, USA,” directed by Barry Levinson and Robert May, is scheduled to premiere on PBS on Sept. 20. Filmed over four years, the series is to focus in part on the political battles that engulfed the Central Bucks School District, where disputes over COVID-19 pandemic-era school policies, book bannings and other culture war topics became flashpoints in the county’s broader political divide.
The series follows two then-14-year-old best friends, Evi and Vanessa, whose parents hold opposing political views. Through their friendship, the film will explore how the political conflicts playing out in their community affected families and relationships beyond contentious school board meetings.
The docuseries describes Bucks County as a politically divided community — one of the most purple counties in one of the most purple states in the country. Its creators said the series aims to look “beyond politics to offer an impartial, human perspective on a deeply divided community.”
The series comes as Bucks County continues to grapple with many of the political and cultural disputes that have defined local school board races and elections in recent years.
The 2024 presidential election was decided by a razor thin margin in Bucks County, with President Donald Trump defeating Kamala Harris by 0.1 percentage point (49.4% to 49.3%). Running as the incumbent in 2020, Trump lost to Joe Biden by more than four points (51.5% to 47.2%). Trump lost Bucks County to Hillary Clinton by less than a percentage point (48.4% to 47.6%) in 2016.
In 2023, the Central Bucks School District’s school board saw physical altercations at its meetings, and officials reportedly withheld from the public and select board members the involvement of a conservative Christian and anti-LGBTQ group in creating regulations for its controversial library book review policy.
The same year, a middle school teacher sued the district, alleging that they suspended and then involuntarily transferred him to a new middle school in retaliation for his advocating for LGBTQ+ students.
Keystone senior newsletter editor Patrick Berkery contributed to this report.
