East Michigan News

Matthew Wilk, former school board president for the Northville School District, was removed from his position earlier this month after making public social media comments that "suggested coronavirus only exists in falsified statistics shouted on the news without context," according to a July 22 interview on "The Frank Beckmann Show."

In the interview, Wilk said that, while there was a part of him that realized the posts weren't the right thing to do, he also doesn't think the backlash is justified.

"I should have probably followed my own kids' rules about using the internet, which is, everything you say will be twisted, misconstrued and taken out of context. It's just the way things are in 2020," Wilk said on the radio show.

Wilk reportedly shared a post by a popular meme creator that denounced the "COVID-19 hysteria." He said he didn't realize his act of sharing the post would be "twisted to effect a gain in policy," referring to the parents and officials who do not want children to be brought back to school in-person. 

"Apparently when you share a post from a public figure, you absorb and accept anything they say, which is, of course, ridiculous," Wilk said.

Wilk stated that he has served on the board for eight years and has been reelected twice. He told Beckmann that he thought he had a good relationship with his colleagues and fellow parents, but that the board is more divided now than it has ever been in his eight-year tenure. 

"The voices that are in favor of getting kids back in schools, taking a different method of protecting against COVID... while allowing children to get back into schools. That's not an absurd concept; it's rhetoric that used to be okay. Parody and satire used to be okay. It's not anymore," said Wilk.

Wilk remains on the Northville School Board, explaining that the president position is mostly ceremonial. 

Wilk told Beckmann that he is a father of two teenagers whom he supports going back to school "100%, without any reservation whatsoever."