Central Bucks OKs Mask Mandate, Board Member Resigns Over Threats

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks school board on Tuesday adopted universal masking requirements for the district, hours after the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a statewide order for masks in schools.

The Central Bucks School District started the 2021-22 school year Monday with a mask-optional policy in place, despite public health officials at all levels urging districts to require mask-wearing at the start of the year.

The school board voted 5-4 on Tuesday to adopt a health and safety plan that follows the state mandate starting Tuesday, the same day the state’s order goes into effect.

That vote came after more than two hours of intense public comment, a common theme at recent school board meetings throughout Bucks County.

Bucks County Community College Launches COVID Vaccine Incentives

The heated debate about masks over the past few months has boiled over into online harassment and threats of violence, according to one now-former Central Bucks school board member.

John Gamble abruptly resigned from the board during its meeting Tuesday night after saying he and his family have received threats against their safety.

“Our families are off-limits,” Gamble said. “You people are sociopaths if you go after our families. If you want to go after me, that’s fine. I get it; I signed up for this.”

Tornadoes Confirmed In Doylestown, Upper Makefield Township

“But when you start attacking my wife … How dare you. How dare you,” he said.

Gamble said his wife, a teacher in the district, had a security guard stationed outside her classroom after receiving threats from community members.

“You disgust me,” he said. “You don’t deserve the service that has been put in.”

“COVID has broken you people, and it’s disgusting,” Gamble said to community members in the board meeting room. “I watch how you treat each other in here. It’s disgusting.”

“Common decency: You all need to find it real fast,” he said.

Ida Tears Through Garden Center In Furlong: Video

A week after his vote was decisive in the Central Bucks School District keeping its mask-optional policy, Gamble again cast the decisive vote Tuesday, but this time it was in favor of the district adopting the state’s mask mandate.

The board also voted to no longer require a doctor’s signature for students to be medically exempt from wearing a mask, bringing its policy in line with the state’s order.