The slate of mostly incumbent candidates for the Delaware Valley School District school board have adopted the slogans Parent Choice, Parents Over Politics, and Know the Facts. They have touted their commitment to such by pointing back to their rejection of public health guidelines during the thick of the COVID pandemic. They opted out of state COVID testing in schools, indicated that they would not organize vaccination drives, and disregarded the state mask mandate. While not a current school board member, candidate Brian Fells was a vocal supporter of these decisions.
These policies are nothing to celebrate. In a Pike County Courier article dated February 16, 2022, Fran Harris compared COVID case numbers in DVSD to those in the Wallenpaupack Area School District (WASD). Ms. Harris calculated that, after accounting for population differences between the two school districts, DVSD suffered 35% more COVID infections than those at WASD during the Omicron spike of January 2022. The calculation of this statistic is pretty straight forward. I’ve confirmed her results and you can, too.
So why did WASD fare so much better than DVSD? Primarily, it was thanks to the WASD school board’s rejection of the right-wing politicization of reasonable public health measures. WASD enforced a strict masking policy, organized vaccination clinics, and participated in COVID testing programs and less of their kids got sick. I accept that humans make mistakes, but I won’t accept these candidates trying to convince us that their decisions were the right call for our students when the facts state otherwise.
During the May 16 primary election, please vote for Brian Carso and Rosemary Walsh, leaving the other three slots blank. Both are experienced school board directors and are committed to the safety of our children.
Frank Feeley
Milford