Some southwest Illinois parents are putting immense pressure on schools over masks
A Sangamon County judge’s ruling has given parents fuel against school districts in the fight over masking requirements designed to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
School districts have been put under a massive amount of pressure by parents across Illinois since Judge Raylene Grischow issued a temporary restraining order for two court cases that affect around 170 school districts in Illinois. Named plaintiffs in each case — one pertaining to students over mask requirements and quarantines and another for school employees who have been ordered to either get the COVID vaccine or submit to regular testing — were told on Feb. 4 that they were granted the temporary restraining order.
For the students named in the court papers, that means they do not have to wear a mask or be quarantined as a close contact unless they have symptoms or a positive test. For the named school employees, including teachers, it means they do not have to vaccinate or be tested weekly.
Before issuing the temporary restraining order, Grischow declined to certify the class, which could extend those same rights to other staff and students. Since the class wasn’t certified, the temporary restraining order is limited to named plaintiffs.
Gov. J.B. Pritizker’s administration has appealed Grischow’s ruling to the 4th District Appellate Court.
School districts face mask mandate decisions
As more districts — some of which are not involved in either lawsuit — announce that masks are now optional for everyone, pressure from parents is mounting in the districts that still require them. Illinois is the only state in the Midwest to still require masks in schools.
Bethalto School District 8 Superintendent Jill Griffin canceled school on Friday, saying in a letter to families that “the disruption has become too great.”
“Additionally, we are receiving emails and calls from families who are concerned about the safety of their students tomorrow, due to posts on social media and chatter throughout the community,” she wrote on Thursday.
Bethalto students will return to school on Monday, with the mask requirement still in place. The school board is meeting Monday night to discuss switching to a mask optional policy.
In a follow-up news release on Friday, Griffin said it was likely that the mask mandate would be removed.
Griffin said that the district needed time over the weekend and on Monday to work through other mitigations for those in the school who are more vulnerable to COVID.
In the follow-up statement on Friday, Griffin said the district has been planning to remove masks and have a board meeting later in the week, but are “acting faster than we planned” by holding the board meeting on Monday.
Griffin also said that the board of education was aware of a planned protest Friday morning over masks.
“The district did not use an emergency day today to stifle public discourse regarding masks,” she wrote. “Quite the contrary, the district opted to take an emergency day to expedite its planning in advance of the board meeting where the board intends to discuss and likely remove masks.”
School board meetings turn tense
In other parts of the metro-east this week, public meetings over masks have been tense or outright hostile.
Collinsville School District 10, which has a handful of plaintiffs in the lawsuit, announced soon after the ruling that the mask mandate was still in place for all other students.
Dozens of community members — including some who do not live in Collinsville or send their children to District 10 — attended a board meeting Monday night. The mask mandate was not an agenda item.
Many who gave public comments cited Grischow’s ruling. Because Grischow didn’t certify the class, the temporary restraining order only applies to named plaintiffs.
Throughout the meeting, the crowd called the board members “criminals” and “child abusers.” When the board tried to end public comment and enter closed session, they were met with booing and yelling, which continued during the vote.
“We appreciate the wide ranging views amongst our families throughout our communities,” Superintendent Brad Skertich said Friday afternoon. “What I would ask happen, and hope happens moving forward, is we communicate with respect, professionalism and civility by all parties, from the school district, to our students, to our community members, to our families. At the end of the day, we all want to educate kids, and that should be our focus.”
Over the summer, Skertich was a vocal advocate for local control. But Pritzker issued an executive order requiring masks in schools and Collinsville followed that mandate.
Collinsville is having a special board meeting on Monday, and updating the return to learn plan is on the agenda. Pritzker announced on Wednesday that Illinois was on track to lift indoor mask mandates by Feb. 28, but he didn’t provide a timeline for schools beyond that they might revisit the mask mandate in a few weeks.
The Madison County Health Advisory Board met on Tuesday to discuss the temporary restraining orders. The advisory board does not have a vote; each board member shares their opinion for the Board of Health, which is separate from the County Board, but composed of the County Board members.
County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler told the dozens of people in the galley that they were devoting so much time to public comments because he thought free speech has been looked down upon and not encouraged to speak out, specifically citing school board meetings.
“I believe we’ve gone through a period of time of censorship in this country, of shaming,” he said.
Prior to the board meeting, Prenzler sent out a letter encouraging people to come to the meeting and speak.
Thirteen people gave public comments; all but two were against requiring masks. Every comment was about masks in schools, many of which cited grievances with the family’s specific district.
Surveys and studies show that, generally, Americans’ resolve to combat COVID with masks and vaccines is wavering, according to The New York Times.
Over the summer, the Madison County Board approved a nonbinding resolution discouraging school districts from requiring masks.
One woman encouraged parents to file criminal reports of child abuse with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office against school districts that forced their student to wear a mask. On Wednesday, a representative of the Sheriff’s Office said he hadn’t heard of anyone trying to file such a report.
At a few points when members of the board were sharing their opinions, people in the crowd shouted questions and comments over them, eventually forcing Prenzler to tell them they were out of order.
Most of the medical professionals on the 10-person board expressed concerns over the mask mandate, citing everything from studies showing varying degrees of effectiveness for masks, to informed consent, to a rise in jaw pain diagnoses and teeth grinding from stress, to mental health and personal liberty.
“I would love to not need mandatory masks or mandatory anything,” said Dr. Raymond Weber, who supports mask mandates. “What I would like to see is a public that is responsible and responsive enough to take care of their fellow man.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2022 at 8:00 AM.