CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Several community members who were quoted in a recently published national news article comparing Clarion Area School District’s pandemic mitigation efforts to those of an Alexandria, Virginia school expressed discontent with its content.
(Photo by Dave Cyphert of ProPoint Media Photography)
It is important to note that The Washington Post article dated Tuesday, September 7, proclaimed to make a comparison of Alexandria City Public Schools to Clarion Area School District, which is one of seven districts in Clarion County, however, the statistics the authors used for Clarion Area School District were that of Clarion County, not Clarion Borough.
In other words, The Washington Post is comparing apples to oranges.
Even so, making an accurate comparison between the two areas would have been difficult due to the vast differences in size and population of the two areas, with Clarion having a far lower population density.
Clarion County’s total population is 38,438 spread out over 600 square miles, for a total average of 66 people per square mile, while Alexandria has a population of 159,428 people in an area of 15 square miles, for an average of 9,314 people per square mile (Source: U.S. Census Department).
As a side note, Clarion Borough has a population of just 5,707 (Source: City-Data.com).
Although Clarion County has a higher overall COVID-19 death rate than the city of Alexandria — with a rate of 260 deaths per 100,000 in Clarion County (Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health) and 88 per 100,000 in Alexandria (Source: Virginia Department of Health) — there are some details that need to be to taken into consideration.
One major factor to be considered is the age of the population in each of the two areas.
While just 11.3 percent of Alexandria’s population is over the age of sixty-five, 20.3 percent of the population in Clarion County is over 65 (Source: U.S. Census Department), a difference that could affect the death rate considering that people over 65 have a far higher rate of COVID-19 mortality, according to the CDC.
According to Natalie Talis, Population Health Manager for the Alexandria Health Department, of the 142 COVID deaths in Alexandria, 105 have been among those aged 65 and older.
Unfortunately, similar statistics for Clarion County are not available.
In an email on Wednesday, Maggi Barton, Deputy Press Secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Health told exploreClarion.com, “We provide death demographics for all deaths statewide. These demographics are not available at the county-level at this time.”
While the rates based on population are higher in Clarion, the raw numbers are far lower, with the county seeing just 79 cases in the last seven-day period (Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health), compared to 181 cases in Alexandria (Source: Virginia Department of Health). Clarion County has also had a total of 100 deaths compared to 142 deaths in Alexandria.
Beyond the issues of the skewed comparison between the two areas and the two districts, the article also fell short in the eyes of many of the local individuals who were interviewed.
“I guess maybe I’m a little frustrated because I thought the article was going to be more in-depth than it was,” Clarion Area Superintendent Joe Carrico told exploreClarion.com about the article.
“We spent about three days with the reporter and her photographer. They had access to myself and others for I don’t even know how many hours.”
Carrico noted The Washington Post representatives not only spoke to him and other school employees and representatives, but also went to meetings and practices and even went into downtown Clarion to speak to people in the community.
“They reached out to us and wanted to do an article on a rural community concerning COVID-19 in schools, and I wanted them to be able to have unbiased conversations with community members. I didn’t guide them in meetings or hold sway over what anyone said. They spent a lot of time here, and that was the result.”
Carrico related that the article also stated he “mistakenly thought the CDC was not a government agency and believed its advice was tailored only to hot spots, like those in Florida and Texas.”
He felt that the above quote needed more context and elaboration.
“That (quote) was part of a three-hour conversation about recommendations and guidelines. What I said is it (the CDC) is a research organization funded by the government. I don’t know if I ever said it wasn’t a government agency.”
Thus, The Washington Post article manipulated a much larger conversation that aided in the point of their article, taking Carrico’s words out of context.
Carrico noted that the reference to Texas and Florida was also part of the larger conversation.
“I said they are a national organization and their guidelines are based on what would make sense to follow across the nation in places like the southeast, such as Florida and Texas, where there is an explosion of cases. However, since they are guidelines, we have to look at them from our local level and what makes sense here.”
The conversation also led to a discussion of what it means to live and work in an area like Clarion, according to Carrico.
“I said to the writer this is rural America. We are fiercely independent people and always have been. We are sometimes distrustful of government and don’t like government overreach. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, and it’s just part of our culture here.”
He also attempted to explain to the writer what that means when it comes to issues that can be divisive.
“The whole thing was supposed to be — at least we were under the pretense of it being — about how a place like Clarion can have people with divergent views but still have rational conversations,” he explained, noting instances of things such as fistfights at school board meetings in other states.
“In our community, we respect each other, hear each other out, and have conversations about these things.”
While he said he was a bit frustrated with some parts of the article, there were other parts he couldn’t argue with.
“I’m not upset that they painted us as these country folks who kind of live in our own little world because that’s kind of who we are, in some ways. We do live in a different space. We’re not Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. We have different views and values here.
“It’s a great place to live and raise a family,” he added.
Carrico wasn’t the only one who was frustrated with the article.
Local resident Christine Datko said she was disappointed in how she and her comments were represented.
According to Datko, she spoke to the Washington Post reporter several times over the course of the time they were in town and felt like one part of the conversation was highlighted out of context.
Datko was quoted in the article as saying she is opposed to vaccination and believes that her son’s autism may be tied to a childhood vaccination.
“I don’t like the way that was presented, and I don’t want to be the reason people think we’re uneducated here,” Datko said.
“It’s not like I’m doing this just because I don’t want to. I told her about the reactions I have had to vaccines that caused long-term effects. I explained this is just what works for me and my family, and my belief that everyone’s body is different.
“I’m not against anyone else getting the vaccine, or any vaccine, I just chose to sit back and wait because I wanted to see how other people responded to it first.”
Datko noted that she’s not ashamed of her decision and believes she’s just doing what is best for her family in their particular circumstances, weighing risks against possible benefits.
“Last year we followed all the masking mandates and everything. I’m just concerned that we’re seeing that it doesn’t seem to be helping or changing anything. My daughter will be wearing a mask, but I’m still concerned because we’re just not seeing an end to this.”
She noted that she hopes people understand that she, like many others, has put a lot of thought into the decision.
“It’s not political for me, and I could care less about that end of things. I’m just looking at my experiences and my family’s experiences and deciding what risk I want to take. It isn’t something I took lightly.”
Local resident and business owner Alyssa Morrison was also unhappy with how she and her comments were represented in the article.
“I was very respectful of the school and the way it (masking) was handled prior (pre-K). I never ever said I begrudgingly put a mask on my kid or did it because I had to. I did it at the time because then we were told it worked and it would save lives. I never once argued it or was rude by any means,” Morrison said.
While Morrison did begin communicating with other parents over her concerns with Governor Wolf’s recent school mask mandate, creating the My Kid My Choice Clarion Area School District group, she said she has no issue with those who choose to mask; she just doesn’t support the mandate at the state level.
“I don’t believe on any level people should choose our decisions for us. I absolutely agree it should be parents’ right to mask their children. Government stepping in is too far. Just like anything else.”
She also noted she is very aware that it isn’t the schools, administration, or teachers that parents need to “fight” on this issue, but the mandate itself at the state level.
“Am I okay with the mask mandate on my six-year-old? No. Am I okay with it being taken from me as a parent to make that decision? No. But, am I going to be disrespectful? Again, no.”
The issue of being able to discuss these issues with respect for those with differing opinions was also echoed again by Clarion Area school board member Braxton White.
“I have always been of the mindset that we should be masking in school until there was an FDA approved COVID vaccine available to all kids in K-12. Other people on our board don’t share that opinion, and while I disagree with them, I don’t disparage them as people, and I don’t question their dedication to our district. Every person on this board along with our leaders in administration bring something valuable to the table, and we would all be better served if we just tried to turn down the temperature,” White said.
“When the state puts public health decisions in the hands of public education administrators and school boards, you end up with the confusion and anger we have today. We’ve been dealing with this in education since the Friday in March of 2020 when PDE said schools would not close only to reverse course six hours later. It has made the job of educators exceedingly difficult and been tough for parents to navigate as well.”
White noted that while the pandemic has created challenges for everyone involved in our local schools, they have done their best to rise to the occasion for the sake of the students and the community.
“Our kids get a great education at Clarion Area, and I’m proud of our faculty, custodians, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals secretaries, and everyone else who makes all of this work. I look forward to the day that we get to stop making public health decisions and can focus on educating our kids again.”
