On Monday, Feb. 28, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board voted 7-1 to change the district’s Health and Safety Plan to make, among other things, masks optional. The only vote against it came from the board President, Jeff Hellrung. Why did Mr. Hellrung vote against the new Health and Safety Plan? Reaching out to Mr. Hellrung to understand his concerns has not produced a perspective from him. After multiple emails, his most direct response was, “I don’t want to get into that.”
For the last two years, Mr. Hellrung has stated that he is relying primarily on data from national, state, and local public health experts to inform his decisions. The preceding Friday, the CDC announced new guidelines and no longer recommended masks in communities with low to medium risk of COVID. If Mr. Hellrung’s long-standing position of relying on public health experts was true, why not align himself with the new CDC guidelines and vote ‘yes’ on the new Health & Safety plan? The rest of the board did.
It's been two weeks since the vote, and the question lingers. Mr. Hellrung has asked the community and parents to move on together; however, his ‘no’ vote demonstrates that he is the one not able or willing to move forward. When would it have been OK with him to accept his board’s Health and Safety Plan? Whose guidance would have convinced him? Apparently, we will never know.
Gabi Asendorf
Chadds Ford Township
(12 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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