Facing probation, southwest IL school board votes to comply with Illinois mask mandate
The school board for Red Bud School District 132 voted to amend its back-to-school plan Thursday night, bringing the district into compliance with the Illinois mask mandate.
Red Bud was one of 26 schools in the state facing probation at the beginning of the school year for not complying with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Aug. 4 executive order requiring masks.
Superintendent Jonathan Tallman said that over 100 people attended the board meeting, with more than 20 speaking on both sides of the mask mandate.
“It was very passionate, yet very respectful,” he said in a phone interview Friday morning.
In Illinois, the probation period gives school districts 60 days to enact a corrective action plan. At the end of the 60 days, a district still not in compliance risks losing state funding.
Mask policies have been the most controversial COVID safety mitigation this fall. Illinois is one of 11 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, requiring universal masking for students, regardless of vaccination status, according to the New York Times.
Eight states have banned schools from requiring masks, although major school districts have forged ahead with requiring masks regardless of the ban.
Red Bed was one of two metro-east school districts put on probation; the other is Carlyle CUSD 1. Carlyle
Superintendent Annie Gray did not respond to phone messages Thursday or Friday.
After a phone interview on Friday, Tallman followed up with a written statement.
“As a school district, making decisions locally, we had our doors open for in-person learning all day, every day of last year,” he wrote in an email. “At one time we shut down the high school, at other times we shut down a classroom or a grade level … all local decisions. It was a challenging year, but we as a district community pulled together and we made it work.
“For this school year, we did the same. Just two weeks ago we had a plan for the school year that was developed locally, and had the support of our local health department.
“ It was also a plan that was similar to every district in Randolph and Monroe Counties, and throughout the state. Just two weeks ago, we were a recognized school district, in a united community. Unfortunately, due to a press conference [from Pritzker on Aug. 4], in an instant, our plan was no longer compliant, our community became divided, and our recognition status was threatened. That local control, which was essentially yanked away in an instant, is extremely frustrating.”