Heated Mask Guidance Debate At Commissioners Meeting

Tensions were high during the usually-low-key Bucks County Commissioners meeting Wednesday at the Administration Building in Doylestown Borough.

The issue was due to the Bucks County Health Department’s updated recommendations, mainly that Health Director Dr. David Damsker is advising schools to require masking for students. The update by the county health department went back on previous guidance that called for optional masking.

Damsker explained the change was after consultation with hospitals and the fact Bucks County relies on already-busy regional childrens’ hospitals that have limited capacity to handle severe COVID-19 cases.

The county has noted their guidance is only that and they can’t force schools to require masks. However, school districts in the county have relied heavily on county guidance and advice from Damsker, a public health expert.

Many schools district are in the process of finalizing their COVID-19 mitigation plans ahead of classes starting. All districts are conducting in-person classes.

Commissioner Bob Harvie said the decision on the change in guidance was not made by the elected officials, but after local hospitals advised the health department. He affirmed that Damsker made the change after listening to hospital officials during a regular update call between local health officials.

There have been dueling petitions relating to the issue. One called for Damkser to recommend federal guidelines for mandatory masking in schools and another that was collecting names to express “heartfelt support” for the county’s top public health official. The petition calling for masking in schools gained more than 2,000 signatures and the other petition in support of Damsker was removed.

Damsker advocated for easing some COVID-19 mitigation measures, like distancing, in schools last year, which gained him some criticism by parents who thought he should follow stricter guidance. He has also been criticized in the past for stating masks work and calling for everyone who can get vaccinated to get inoculated.

Donna DeArmond, of Plumstead Township, blamed the commissioners for making “political decisions without data,” adding the county “capitulated to the loud minority.” She made the claim that masks don’t work, which the Mayo Clinic has said is untrue.

Rayanne Banker, who taught for 11 years and lives in Buckingham Township, said kids can “adapt fairly easily” to a wide variety of situations when the “adults around them are calm.” She further stated that everyone needs to keep working together for the best for students and teachers. Banker added that wearing a mask in schools is “essential right now.”

Sue Staffer, a Warrington Township resident, said school students and staff should be wearing masks. She added that masks provide a layer of safety for everyone and don’t infringe on anyone’s freedom.

“Everyone agrees that our children need to be in school, but it needs to be done safely,” she said.

Dr. Carrie Kefalas, who has worked in public health and for a pharmaceutical company, said having kids wear masks can impact their breathing. Citing a state statue on interfering with the breathing of a child, she called having kids wear masks is “child abuse.” She claimed making kids wear masks could be a crime, which drew a slight chuckle from the commissioners’ podium. During her comments and for portions of the meeting, the doctor wore her surgical masks below her nose. Studies and federal health officials have stated face masks should cover both the nose and mouth to be effective.

A Doylestown Borough father said kids don’t have a voice in wearing masks and they shouldn’t have to where them. As someone who previously home schooled his children, he said he regrets sending his kids to public schools and wants to begin educating them again. He added the pandemic won’t go away because there is “too much money in it for everybody.”

Meghan Brock, a Northampton Township resident and former pediatric nurse, accused the commissioners of being involved in changing the guidance. She said masks can hurt the mental health of kids and pointed to suicides among kids during COVID-19.

“Every child’s death is a tragedy, but let’s be clear, this is not a public health emergency,” she said of COVID-19, pointing to suicides of kids during the pandemic.

“None of you care,” she said to the commissioners, adding Commissioner Chairwoman Ellis-Marseglia was a social worker and should care.

“How many kids struggled with depression and suicide this year because you are doing everything in your power to take away the normal school year our children need?” she asked.

Brock would not stop talking when her allotted speaking time was up and Ellis-Marseglia recessed the meeting for a few minutes. A security official came up to Brock before she left the podium.

The meeting resumed a few minutes later and took more public comment on masking and other topics.

Quakertown Community School Board member Chris Spear, of Milford Township, applauded Damsker’s guidance and said it allowed students to return to schools last year. He said Damsker’s decision to craft guidance on local data helped the school board to return some normalcy to classrooms while still keeping students and staff safe.

“Dr. Damsker is being really beat up by the public and the press. He’s the reason all the upper Bucks schools have had kids in school,” Spear said.

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