Two southwest IL school districts among 26 put on probation over COVID mask violations
More than two dozen Illinois school districts are on probation after flouting the statewide mask requirements for staff and students inside schools.
In the metro-east, Red Bud CUSD 132 in Randolph County and Carlyle CUSD 1 in Clinton County are both on the list.
Once districts are put on probationary status, they have 60 days to create and enact a corrective action plan. Failure to do so could compromise state funding.
“This district will not go there,” Red Bud Superintendent Jonathan Tallman said in a phone interview Thursday. “Our district will not have our state funding threatened.”
Tallman said he is having a conference with State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala on Tuesday, which will start the 60-day timeline. There are no sanctions against schools in those first 60 days.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate was announced Aug. 4, which Tallman said was “extremely frustrating,” not only because it rolled back local control, but because the requirement came so close to the start of the school year.
“It is very challenging,” he said. “Ever since this pandemic, guidance has changed and it’s left us as school districts constantly having to be nimble and communicate that with our parents and students, and they get frustrated as well.”
Carlyle Superintendent Annie Gray was not immediately available Thursday.
The Red Bud school board meets Thursday night. Amending the corrective action plan is on the agenda. Tallman said he expects a large turnout.
While Tallman is frustrated with the lack of local control, he said a lawsuit would be an “unwise” use of funds.
“There’s always the thought of litigation, but all of the litigation that’s been filed [over COVID executive orders] has confirmed the governor’s authority,” he said. “We could always pursue that, but if you look at every single one of these cases, they fail.”
At least two lawsuits have already been filed against Pritzker over the school mask mandate this year.
Several superintendents from around the state — but neither Gray nor Tallman — addressed the Illinois State Board of Education during the board meeting’s public comment on Wednesday, with most advocating for local control when it comes to COVID mitigation measures.
The following Illinois school districts are on probation, according to NBC Chicago:
Carlyle CUSD 1: Clinton County
Benton CCSD 47: Franklin County
Warsaw CUSD 316: Hancock
Patoka CUSD 100: Marion County
Red Bud CUSD 132: Randolph County
Durand CUSD 322: Winnebago County
North Clay CUSD 25: Clay County
West Central CUSD 25: Henderson County
Wayne City CUSD 100: Wayne County
North Wayne CUSD 200: Wayne County
La Harpe CSD 347: Hancock County
Field CCSD 3: Jefferson County
Beecher City: CUSD 20: Effingham County
Edwards County CUSD 1: Edwards County
Flanagan-Cornell District 74: Livingston County
Abingdon-Avon CUSD 276: Knox County
Brimfield CUSD 309: Peoria County
Central CUSD 3: Adams County
Vandalia CUSD 203: Fayette County
Cornell CCSD 426: Livingston County
Odell CCSD 435: Livingston County
Flora CUSD 35: Clay County
Woodlawn Unit School District 209: Jefferson County
Oblong CUSD 4: Crawford County
South Central CUD 401: Marion County
Hamilton Co CUSD 10: Hamilton County
Six other schools were previously nonrecognized or on probation but are now on track to having their recognition restored:
Timothy Christian Middle School: DuPage County
Timothy Christian High School: DuPage County
Spoon River Valley CUSD 4: Fulton County
Ewing Northern CCSD 115: Franklin County
Meridian CUSD 15: Macon County
Unity Christian School: Williamson County
The Belleville News-Democrat has made an open records request for the letters sent by the Illinois State Board of Education to school districts to start the probationary process.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 1:26 PM.