Comments from the Northville School Board president quickly drew backlash Saturday.
School Board President Matthew Wilks shared a controversial post on Facebook from Carpe Donktum, a page created for images and videos in support of President Donald Trump. The post shared downplayed the seriousness of coronavirus, questioning why there are no videos of sick patients in the hospital.
"Where are the videos of panic in the hospitals? They don't exist. This "Pandemic" exists only in falsified statistics shouted on the news without context," the post Wilks shared reads.
In a separate comment, Wilks downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic.
"How about we allow schools to reopen and Grandma can take the extreme precautions? She can wear a spacesuit when she 'needs' to go out and shop, and the rest of the world can go about their lives, instead of shutting everything down because she might get sick? It would be pretty selfish of Grandma to have everyone else take the burden of her risk," Wilk's comment reads.
In a statement to the Free Press, Wilk said the remarks are taken out of context and his opinion is his own and not that of the board as a whole.
"As you may know, the Board is considering under what circumstances to re-open schools in the fall. There are many considerations involved in that decision, including how to best further the education of Northville’s children, including my own, in the safest way possible," Wilk said. "I serve with some of the most caring and thoughtful board members, and I know that all of us are ill at ease with the downsides all of the proposed choices; there is simply no way to avoid all of them. COVID has been catastrophic and we have to make sure that we address it in the best way possible."
The posts quickly received backlash on social media by community members and parents, with talks of a petition for Wilk to resign surfacing, reports WXYZ.
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Northville Public Schools Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher could not immediately be reached for comment.
Board trustee Angela Jaafar made a statement on Facebook asking people to "agree to disagree" and focus on "the overall well being of our students and staff."
"As your trustee I would like to remind everyone that the Northville Board Of Education is compromised of 7 individually elected board members," Jaafar said on Facebook. "We (each of the 7 Trustees ) have equal say as we vote on policies , district goals , and challenging scenarios like now . We are YOUR voice (not ours)."
The district has a 130-person task force to help guide reopening plans and operations, Wilk said.
"I know that, with the help of our teachers, staff, administration and parents, NPS students will be given the best education in the safest possible way," Wilk said.
Wilk is up for reelction this year, reports WXYZ.
Meredith Spelbring is a news intern with the Detroit Free Press. Reach her at mspelbring@freepress.com or on Twitter @mere0415.
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Northville School Board president under fire for downplaying coronavirus on social media - Detroit Free Press
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