On December 10, 2021, the PA Supreme Court upheld lower court decisions, ruling that the PA Department of Health lacked the legal authority to mandate masking children in schools. The lawsuit was filed by Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre; state Rep. Jesse Topper, R-Bedford; two religious schools; three public school districts; and several parents of schoolchildren. Much of the controversy over masking guidelines in schools originated in Bucks County, as it was uncovered by citizens Jamie Walker and Megan Brock that politicos interfered with Bucks County Health Director Dr. David Damsker and overrode his COVID school guidance in August 2021 as reported in the Delaware Valley Journal.

At the same time here in Pennsbury, we had newly minted School Board Members that swept the election on promises that they would improve the districts policies regarding inclusivity, improve standardized test scores and catch up the children still falling behind grade-level standards caused by school shut downs and the ineffective virtual learning environment that was not effective for most kids.

In preparation for their first meeting, Board Members Joanne Steere and Jeannine Delwiche were coordinating and showed the community what their real focus was, as revealed in RTKs of their text messaging leading up to their first Board Meeting on December 16, 2021. The following are the copies of the text exchanges prior to that meeting:

Despite knowing that the PA Supreme Court ruling was the new law of the land in Pennsylvania, Steere was engaging with Delwiche and local political leaders in effort to thwart the law, counter response public commenters seeking compliance with the law and to continue a push to mandate mask on children in Pennsbury despite the new law which forbid doing so. For those that don’t know Karen Vander Laan and Steve Seufert, at the time they were the leaders of the Lower Makefield Township and Falls Township Democratic Committees.

With the new alignment of the Board on December 5, 2024, we will see if this group of 9 are focused on our kids’ education and development or these progressive political issues that have nothing to do with the education our children.