Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
At a packed meeting, the Pennsbury School Board voted Thursday night to require masking in schools and on buses.
The school board made their vote on the updated pandemic health and safety plan just days before staff return to schools and two weeks before classes are set to begin.
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“This plan represents our best chance to returning to full-week education,” Superintendent Dr. Thomas Smith said.
The district will be returning students to classrooms five days per week, a change from last year.
The plan will be flexible and reevaluated every month, the district’s new superintendent said.
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When Smith told the public that masking would be required for all grade levels, some people in the audience yelled out “bullsh*t” and “abuse.”
Masks will not be mandatory for players in sporting events and when students are outdoors.
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Smith said district staff continue to maintain a high-level of cleaning and there will be seating charts for buses, more outdoor activities, mask breaks, promotion of the COVID-19 vaccines, and options for lunch outdoors, in classrooms, and in cafeterias.
The superintendent acknowledged that short-term closures might be needed, but the district’s goal is to keep students in schools.
Although the county will not be conducting widespread contact tracing of COVID-19 cases in schools, Smith said the district’s nurses and administrators will be handling contact tracing. COVID-19 case numbers will be reported to the county health department.
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While students ages 12 and up can receive COVID-19 vaccines, those who are younger are unable to get vaccinated at this time.
On Tuesday, the Bucks County Health Department reverted their guidance that schools should encourage optional masking to recommending masking for all students. The change led to a tense public comment session at the Bucks County Commissioners meeting.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended “universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.”
The public comment portions of the meeting were mostly filled with parents and residents upset over the mask mandate plan.
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Jane Moore, of Falls Township, said she didn’t want her son to have to wear a mask and those decisions should be made student-by-student. She said she believed parents should be able to choose if their child wears a mask.
“I believe masks should be optional for students and parents should make that decision,” said resident Joanne Mastriana, of Lower Makefield Township.
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Dr. Rashida Ghauri, a Pennsbury parent and physician who specializes in internal medicine and integrative holistic medicine, told the school board that she was against masking students, calling it “child abuse” and said it will “dehumanize our children.”
“COVID poses no risk to our children – zero,” she said, citing the lower number of severe COVID-19 cases among kids.
Ghauri stated that masks are not effective, while the Mayo Clinic and other health care institutions and studies state that masks can be effective.
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The crowd chanted “no more masks!” and “ban the masks!” at the school board.
Bill Irvine, a parent from Levittown, said he is not afraid of COVID-19 and he is worried about losing his “freedom and liberty.” He stated his son gets sores from wearing masks and his daughter has anxiety that is exacerbated by wearing a mask.
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“My children deserve to show their face,” he said. “Most importantly, my children want to live a normal life.”
Several parents told the school board they will take their kids from the district and to cyber charter schools.
An 8-year-old boy appealed to the school board to not require mask wearing. The boy said masks are tight, hot, and hurt his ears. He also stated they cause him to have trouble concentrating.
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The boy’s statement led one woman shedding tears in the audience.
Yardley Borough resident David Sternberg, a U.S. Air Force pilot, cited federal data that showed lower impacts of COVID-19 among children. He said his children should not be forced to wear masks.
Janelle Sullivan, a Lower Makefield Township resident, said she was upset the district was going to teach students about vaccines.
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Lower Makefield Township resident Robert Abrams said school board members who vote for mandatory masks should take out personal liability insurance.
An incoming Pennsbury High School sophomore told the school board that he was sent to the school office twice for wearing a mask under his nose. He said masks are uncomfortable.
“We are not going to be wearing masks for the rest of our lives,” he said.
Dana Campbell, a Lower Makefield Township resident with three kids, read a letter she said her 12-year-old son wrote. He wrote that wearing a mask is a “sign of solidarity” and will help maintain in-person classes.
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People in the audience called out several times as Campbell read her son’s letter.
“Coronavirus is a horrible problem the whole world is facing. Just like many problems it has a simple solution: wear a mask … masks don’t take away freedom, they give them,” the boy wrote.
Ashley Ritter, a nurse practitioner and Yardley mother who started Dear Pandemic, a campaign to post information on COVID-19, called on the school board to have flexible plans and be “proactive rather than reactive” as COVID-19 cases in schools can spread easily. She also asked how the school board will minimize disruptions and maximize the amount of time her kids are in classrooms.
Following public comment and voting, the school board ended the meeting without making further statements on COVID-19 mitigation plans.
People in the audience hollered, yelled, and cursed at the school board for approving masking and ending the meeting.
“You all need to burn in hell,” one man yelled.
“I will sue,” one woman screamed.
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