The statewide and school district mask mandates remained an incendiary subject at Wednesday’s North Penn School Board session, as anti-mask residents attacked the decision and railed against school board members while supporters expressed gratitude.
At the start, school board President Tina Stoll set the tone, reminding the public a mask mandate was in place at the meeting as well, and threatened anyone not wearing a mask with ejection. "I think pretty much everyone is wearing a mask. so that’s good,” Stoll said. "If you do not wear a mask, you will be asked to leave. If you do not leave when you are asked to, that will be considered disturbing a public meeting and you’ll be considered trespassing.”
The NPSD mandate that all students, staff and visitors to grades K-12 wear masks while indoors, follows Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration’s latest orders.
Lansdale resident Kunbi Rudnick thanked the board for getting students back into school, and said her two daughters, in sixth and eighth grades, are glad to be back. "My vaccinated eighth-grader was the one most concerned about going back to school. She did not get any fear from me. I’m happy to make her own decision on it and she is thrilled to have the stability of being back in school,” Rudnick said. "Students being back in person and consistency are very important to them and us.”
Rudnick said some students were not eating regular meals every day during the pandemic, and others may have been maltreated at home but relied on teachers to report it all. "These things are not related to mask wearing, but to the well-being of kids, and the stability of them being in school safely,” she said. "For y daughter, with an IEP, it’s important to have social cues, as well as for her to have the opportunity to have some sort of stability.”
Jason Lanier of Lansdale, began by telling the board there have been no fatalities for children ages 0 to 17 in Pennsylvania since January 2020. "You are making them bear the brunt of whatever this nonsense is. These masks serve no functional purpose. They only act as a talisman. They make you feel good,” Lanier said. "What my big concerns is, is this is just a way to go from going to mask mandates to all virtual, then as a solution, we’re going to say you’re required to get a vaccine to get back into school.”
Lansdale resident Yanni Lambros, a Republican candidate for Lansdale Borough Council, targeted board directors Jonathan Kassa and Christian Fusco with questions on rumored Pennsylvania House of Representatives prospects. "In light of your 2020 divisive campaign for the Pennsylvania House … Mr. Kassa, it’s only fair to ask, if you are re-elected to the school board, will you commit to serving the full four years’ term? Also, will you commit to abstaining from running for any other political position to reassure that your decisions as a board member are in the best interest of the NP community and not your own personal ambitions?” Kassa did not reply.
"Mr. Fusco,” Lambros said, "it is widely rumored that you will be running in 2022 for the Pennsylvania House seat in the 61st District. Please confirm or deny these rumors and please tell us if you will commit to serving the full four years if you are re-elected to the school board.”
"I have no knowledge of that rumor and I don’t know where it came from,” Fusco said.
Lansdale resident Maurice Curtis asked, "When does it stop?”
"Right now,” Curtis said, "this is a war against us versus our freedom of speech, our rights, our everything. And y’all just sit right up there and allow people to be sheep and allow everybody to just wear masks with these unnecessary media-driven numbers that aren’t true. It just doesn’t stop.”
Hatfield Township resident Samantha Ferry said the board needs to be focused on making sure teachers are better prepared to teach virtually. "If we as a district are forced to shut down with a resurgence of Covid in our communities, it is my understanding that the majority of the teachers’ time during their professional development this year, just as last year, is focused on equitable cultural diversity training,” Ferry said.
Ferry said cultural diversity training should not be prioritized over virtual proficiency of teachers. "This is counterproductive in making sure all of our students succeed. We as a community must trust that our teachers will be prepared.” She added that she felt the board failed to prioritize teachers’ needs in March 2020 when they voted to keep students home. "This mistake cannot be made again.”
Vicki Flannery, of North Wales Borough, asked why students are being quarantined if they are exposed on buses and classrooms where masks are required. "Why are we only quarantining the unvaccinated? If vaccines are supposed to work, then why are we separating the vaccinated from the unvaccinated? If it is to protect the unvaccinated, shouldn't the unvaccinated have a choice on whether they want to be protected?” Flannery said.
Flannery’s husband, Mike Flannery, asked Stoll what the process is for replacing board members who resign their seats mid-term. Facing the NPTV cameras broadcasting live, he said, "Folks at home, let me tell you how this is going to work. In 2022, post this school board election, Kassa and Fusco will both be up for re-election. They’re going to resign their seats and throw their hats in for whatever seat was promised to them by that little punk in Harrisburg,” Flannery said. "They’ve been good little comrades and you can bet the plan is to reward them. After these two parasites resign their seats, those seats will be filled behind closed doors by this board, not by the electorate of this county.”
Erin Blanc, of Hatfield, on the brink of tears, told the board she was worn out but thanked them for their service. She then confronted them for mandating masks. "I won’t stop fighting for my kids,” she said. "I find it unbelievable that the health decisions about my kids are being made by non-medical professionals at this point. They don’t know my kids.” She said a parent should not need to file a Section 504 Service Agreement "which would follow the child for years to come for a disability they do not have.”
A Section 504 Service Agreement is a civil rights law, which according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education allows a student who doesn’t qualify for special education services under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to qualify for modifications if the disability substantially limits educational performance. "It almost feels like fraud,” Blanc said.
She said there are exceptions to the state mandate, namely if a face covering either causes a medical condition or exacerbates one. "I focus on the cause part. No one has been able to provide me with evidence that shows that my young children wearing a mask 35 hours a week will not cause a medical problem in the next year, five years, years to come,” Blanc said.
Blanc said her children were recently scolded for taking their masks down while running in gym class. "I understand that everyone is in a very tough position,” she said. "I keep asking for choice. That’s all I ask.”
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