Borowicz urges BEA school board to defy state mask mandate

WINGATE, PA – Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton/Centre) went before the Bald Eagle Area school board Wednesday and urged the board to defy the statewide school mask mandate.

28 people spoke at the Wednesday session, most opposed to the mask mandate, according to a report in the Centre Daily Times.

The second-term representative asked the BEA board to “hold the line” and make decisions based on “liberty and freedom.” She said, “If it was about science, we would not have had 109,000 people crammed into the Beaver Stadium. This is not about the science…this is about power and control.”

“Tyrants don’t stop, so if you comply here, compliance to tyranny breeds more tyranny, period. And what you’re trying to protect will be lost also. The only way to stand up to tyranny is to stand up against it, have we not learned that?”

Many of those who spoke Wednesday said they favored allowing parents to choose if their child should wear a mask.

The Bald Eagle Area district has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases this school year. Given that, earlier this week superintendent Scott Graham had alerted parents to the possibility of remote learning for Bald Eagle Area High School and the adjacent Wingate Elementary School. At Wednesday’s special board meeting Graham said anecdotal evidence shows substantially more cases this year compared to a year ago.