Central Bucks Mask Mandate Remains As Tensions Mount

DOYLESTOWN, PA — It's been a tumultuous year in the Central Bucks School District, as a board divided over mask mandates has also argued over when to censor or limit public comments in meetings.

This week, school board members and audience members shouted at one another in a dispute on the appropriateness of public comments, and the district superintendent shared an update on COVID-19 safety protocol.

Masking Policy

The district was in the news often over the summer, when a 5-4 board vote rejected the advisement of the Bucks County Department of Health and kept a mask-optional policy. But after a mask mandate was issued at the state level, the district revised its policies on Aug. 31.

Then on Wednesday, a judge ruled that Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam's masking order was void in the absence of a public health emergency.

In a message to district families Wednesday night, Central Bucks' superintendent Abram M. Lucabaugh said that students will still be required to mask indoors in the district. Gov. Tom Wolf's office will be appealing to keep the mask order in place statewide, and the order will stand in the interim.

"Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education and in consultation with our district solicitor, no changes will be made to our current masking procedures and all approved mask exemptions will continue to be honored," he wrote. "The district will monitor this matter closely and will communicate updates as soon as they are available."

Lucabaugh added, "Thank you for your patience, understanding, and support as we navigate this ever-changing situation."

According to Central Bucks' COVID-19 dashboard, 90 positive cases have been reported between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7 across all of the district's schools. In Bucks County's most recent update from a partially overlapping time period, the health department said 159 children had COVID-19 countywide.

School Board Discourse

The school board meeting on Tuesday saw tensions running high around district culture, as board members Karen Smith and Dana Hunter argued over when to limit public comment.

Smith exclaimed "enough" several times during comments from Buckingham resident Ed Mackouse. Among other comments, Mackouse said, “diversity, education, transgender ... he has the right to go into the women’s bathroom and rape her,” referencing a recognizably transphobic trope around bathroom usage in schools.

Hunter criticized Smith for limiting Mackouse's three minutes, and told those in the audience and on the board that speakers were entitled to their time without interruption.

Later in public comment, Doylestown resident Art Larson said "it's time to stand up to the Zionism and communism that's in our communities," as part of his statement drawing connections between "organized crime," the Anti-Defamation League, and the Jewish community.

His words garnered vocal disagreement and accusations of anti-Semitism from some audience members, at which point Hunter shouted "he is allowed to say whatever he wants." District solicitor Jeffrey Garton then spoke on the board policy that only comments personally criticizing community members would be censored.

Doylestown resident Silvi Haldepur spoke last for public comment, saying she was "shaken" when she'd originally come to express a message of gratitude to the board.

"Hate speech is not okay," she said. "I came here to actually say thank you, but, my God ... where did I move? Where did I move? This is horrendous."

Through tears, she called on new board members to end the vitriol in these meetings.

According to the latest unofficial results, the newly elected school board members will likely be Jim Pepper (R), Tabitha Dell'Angelo (D), Debra Cannon (R), Marium Mahmud (D), and Lisa Sciscio (R).

Read more school board news in Bucks County:

Pennsbury School Board Lawsuit Hearing Is Underway

Council Rock Board Race Narrows To 1 Vote Margin

Republicans Lead Bensalem School Board Race: Unofficial Results

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