Luzerne County school board meeting ends as mask uproar starts

Crestwood School Board members abruptly ended their meeting Thursday because some people in the audience refused to wear masks.

After the board in Luzerne County led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and took roll call, Superintendent Bob Mehalick aimed to make sure everyone donned a mask.

“There are several people without masks on. Let’s put our masks on, and then we’ll continue with the agenda,” Mehalick said.

When a man in the audience asked if he could ask a question, Mehalick said, “Certainly,” but told the man to put on a mask first.

“You’ve got 30 seconds to put a mask on,” Mehalick said at one point, “or the meeting is adjourned.”

Shortly after, board President Barry Boone adjourned the meeting.

Before the high school auditorium cleared, a man said into a microphone: “Shameful. Shameful guys. Shame. Shame.”

He went on to introduce his daughter “who was adopted from Communist China ... which is what we’re descending into, communism.”

“It is shameful,” he said, “that we pay this much in taxes and we cannot be heard.”

At meetings held earlier this fall, parents have asked the board to relax a rule that requires masks in school.

Prior to Thursday’s meeting, Mehalick and Boone planned to let parents choose whether their children will wear masks in schools when a state mandate ends.

On Tuesday, a judge in Commonwealth Court ordered the end to a mandate requiring masks in schools by Dec. 4 unless another court intervenes before then.

Before the judge’s ruling, Gov. Tom Wolf proposed ending the mandate on Jan. 17, 2022.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mehalick said he hopes parents will continue following guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The guidelines, updated Nov. 5, call for universal masking and keeping 3 feet of distance between people in schools.

“I will continue to wear a mask and encourage other people to,” Mehalick said in the interview.

He also said Crestwood took steps throughout the pandemic to protect children, such as by switching to virtual classes and offering a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for children 5 to 11 on Nov. 12.

“We have placed the safety and well-being of students first and foremost,” Mehalick said.

On Wednesday, Boone said he expected that the board would discuss masks in an executive session before the start of Thursday’s meeting.

A upsurge in COVID-19 cases led to the closing of Rice Elementary School this week.

It is scheduled to reopen Monday, while Fairview Elementary School and Crestwood’s Secondary Campus have remained open.

After cases of the disease at Rice rose from nine to 29 between Nov. 10 and 12, the state Department of Health advised closing the school. On Wednesday, the department also said the school can reopen Monday.

“We have followed their guidance,” said Mehalick, adding that cases were down to seven among the school’s population on Wednesday.