The Greensburg Salem School Board meeting this week ended before it began.

The board postponed its voting meeting until Sept. 15 after several people attending Wednesday refused to don required masks.

Board President Ron Mellinger Jr. told the crowd of about 40 gathered in the middle school auditorium that the meeting could not begin with people present who weren’t wearing face coverings. The district is subject to a statewide mask mandate for all students, staff and visitors inside school buildings.

The mask requirement for meeting attendees was posted on the district website along with a Zoom link for anyone who wanted to participate remotely.

Most board members filed out of the meeting as mask mandate opponents in the audience began to shout at them.

“You have no backbone,” one woman yelled.

Several people could be heard questioning the validity of masking as a deterrent to the spread of the covid-19 virus.

“Have some moral courage and stand up for our children,” another woman told the board.

Before the mandate went into effect Tuesday, the Greensburg Salem board had approved a mask-optional policy for the 2021-22 school year. At the board’s Sept. 1 discussion meeting, several parents opposed to the mask mandate urged the district to defy it.

Brian Conway, who remained seated on the stage, told the audience the board’s “hands are tied” regarding the mask mandate.

“We have to work with the state,” he said.

Several district officials returned to the auditorium, including Solicitor Lee Demosky, who told the crowd the meeting would be rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15, with masks required for all those attending in person.

“There will be a Zoom option for all those who don’t want to wear a mask, to exercise their right to freedom of speech,” Demosky said.

A few audience members complained that those who were refusing to wear masks were preventing other residents from voicing their concerns at Wednesday’s meeting.

Valerie Stillwagon of Greensburg confronted acting Superintendent Ken Bissell with a charge that her eighth-grade daughter’s medical privacy was violated last week at the middle school. Stillwagon later said her daughter was among a group of students who were jointly questioned about their covid vaccination status during followup of a potential covid exposure.

Bissell said he would call Stillwagon to discuss her concerns.

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