Highland students can go maskless for in-person learning this fall — vaccinated or not

Highland students will have the option to attend in-person classes without masks in the fall, after recommendations were released from the state.

Superintendent Mike Sutton released an open letter Monday, July 11, announcing the new policy in response to new recommendations recently announced by the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health. Those recommendations stated masks should be worn by unvaccinated individuals, but the decision on requiring them was left to the individual districts.

“Highland CUSD No. 5 plans to make it clear that masks are recommended but optional for students and staff — vaccinated or not,” Sutton wrote. “The decision to wear a mask or not should lie with the individual, and that is our current plan.”

There is an exception: Masks are not optional on school buses, as the state still requires them on public transportation.

Highland schools will run a full schedule five days a week matching the pre-COVID schedules in the fall. Highland Middle and High schools will dismiss at 2:35 and 2:40 p.m., respectively, and all primary and elementary schools will run their normal schedules.

Sutton wrote he anticipates normal procedures during lunch, recess and passing periods as well. Social distancing will be continued at 3 feet “or to the extent possible,” he wrote.

“We will serve our students’ interest with the best educational practices above all other things while providing a safe environment,” Sutton wrote.

Sutton said he is not in favor of collecting proof of vaccination from students unless it impacts quarantine procedures, or COVID testing in the schools as testing is available through the Madison County Health Department.

But what about families who still want full remote learning? Some families have requested it, Sutton wrote, especially when there are significant health concerns. At the moment, remote learning is only being offered to students who are not vaccinated and are in quarantine for a short term period, but that may change.

“It may be that quarantined students are better served by treating the period as a normal absence and providing the student with work from the actual class rather than placing the student with a different cohort of students during the quarantine only,” Sutton wrote. “We certainly hope quarantines are significantly less impactful this school year.”

Highland’s school board had received a number of complaints from parents calling on them not to require masks in the fall, even if it meant defying state regulations.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance in May that clarified schools should continue to use COVID prevention strategies in the fall, including masks and social distancing, but more than 160 school administrators in Illinois signed an open letter to the state to give them local control over how to return to in-person learning, including mask policies.