Jamie Walker: Why do Democrats always use kids for their politics? 

I never involved myself in local politics before 2020. Covid opened my eyes to a world I did not know existed. I often wish I still didn’t know it existed but once you see it you can’t unsee it. And it’s omnipresent in our lives. Even more than national affairs, local politics impact our school taxes, our children’s safety, and their education. 

During Covid, Bucks County was lucky enough to have a health department run by a board-certified public-health doctor. But we were also unlucky insofar as the agency is ultimately governed by the three county commissioners – Bob Harvie, his fellow Democrat Diane Ellis-Marseglia, and Republican Gene DiGirolamo.  

A local health director can create health guidance for schools. For example, the health director can legally quarantine people if there is a measles outbreak. During Covid, our Bucks County health director, Dr. David Damsker, wrote guidance that allowed schools to open and children to receive an in-person education. Democrats — and the teachers’ unions that fund their candidates’ election campaigns – were uninterested in keeping kids in the classroom and thus rejected the guidance. In fact, the president of the Central Bucks Education Association, Bill Senavaitis who is an English teacher, wrote an op-ed chastising Damsker over his medical opinions. Since Democrats have the Board of Commissioners majority, our health director was silenced and his guidance ignored.    

All the while, children suffered. Democrats showed they don’t care if they use children for political advantage.     

A more recent example of this was their handling of the school resource officer position at Central Bucks West. In 2023, Central Bucks School District wanted to hire an SRO to enhance school safety. Most people agree that safety is the top priority for schools in today’s world. The regional police refused to send an officer to Central Bucks West. This was extremely disheartening to learn. 

Luckily, The Sheriff’s Office is independently run by Sheriff Fred Harran. The law in Pennsylvania stipulates the contract for an SRO must be signed by the school district, the sheriff, and the commissioners. Since 2023 was an election year for the Board of Commissioners, Bob Harvie wanted to look like a hero and save the day by signing a contract with CBSD and the Sheriff’s Office to hire and SRO for the district. The commissioner came to a school board meeting to make a public comment about how wonderful it was and how Republican school directors really deserve the blame for problems schools face. It was typical campaign speechifying.  

Despite Harvie’s clear political motivations, the SRO program was a success, and children grew to trust and respect Deputy Robert Landis. 

Fast forward two years to present day.  The school resource officer contract for Landis needs to be renewed at Central Bucks West and the Bucks County Intermediate Unit asked the Sheriff’s department to provide an SRO for the children they serve. Considering that the school districts pay the SRO salary and nothing comes from the county, one would think Harvie and Ellis-Marseglia would happily sign a contract to provide a sheriff to help facilitate school safety. Think again.  

The two Democratic commissioners refused to allow a sheriff’s deputy to work in schools, spurring Harran to lament this decision at a commissioners meeting. You can hear the sheriff’s full statement about the SRO officer on his agency’s Facebook page.  

Harvie and Ellis-Marseglia acted like they care about kids and their safety during an election year but, once again, just like during Covid, they only used kids for their politics. They just can’t stop doing that.  

Jamie Walker is a former teacher and a Central Bucks School District mom of three.