Students in the Mahomet-Seymour School District had the option of wearing a mask—or not—as they came to school Monday morning.
The change came on the back of a temporary restraining order granted Friday by Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow in response to a lawsuit brought to the court by a group of 700 parents and teachers, including a handful from the Mahomet-Seymour School District. Calling the ruling “misguided”, Gov. JB Pritzker asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to seek an expedited appeal from the Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court.
“This decision sends the message that all students do not have the same right to safely access schools and classrooms in Illinois, particularly if they have disabilities or other health concerns,” Raoul said in a statement.
In the meantime, some school districts, like Heritage, St. Joseph-Ogden, and Oakwood, have opted to stick with masks for students and teachers.
Oakwood Superintendent Larry Maynard wrote to parents: “The Oakwood School District was not subject to the lawsuit, but we are aware of the ruling, and we are monitoring the situation daily. Due to the fact that we have not been in school since last Tuesday, we have not had the opportunity to have important discussions with the school board, administrative team, and our staff. We ask for your continued patience as we develop a plan. Until then, procedures will remain the same.”
Others, like Prairieview-Ogden, have decided to move forward with mask optional policies. Whether or not school districts will move back to mandated masks if a stay is issued remains to be seen.
Mahomet-Seymour parents were first made aware of a potential change Friday night when Superintendent Lindsey Hall sent an email to parents saying that the district was reviewing the decision in which the district was named as a defendant. By Saturday the district had concluded that they were “able to shift to masks being recommended, but not required, which is what the Board of Education originally voted to do back in July of 2021,” according to Hall.
Whether or not the entire district could shift to optional masks was debated throughout the weekend, as the judge did not grant class-action certification, meaning that the ruling did not apply to all districts, just those named. Heritage School District, for example, will continue to require masks until the Appellate Court makes a ruling, a decision which is expected to come within less than two weeks with the date of February 16th/17th being communicated as the decision dates targeted.
Still, Mahomet-Seymour did not vote to shift to masks recommended under all circumstances in July 2021. The board of education, in a vote of 6-1, set “‘universal masking’ for student and staff if/when” “local metrics indicate severe transmission and/or Champaign County moderate to severe.”
According to the CDC, Champaign County’s transmission rate is “high” at 8.42-percent. Moderate transmission would be between 5 and 8-percent whereas low transmission is less than 5-percent.
Hall emailed parents again Sunday saying, “At face value, I understand that this court decision seems simple. However, it is and will continue to be important and necessary, as a school district, to seek legal counsel as we proceed ahead. The situation we find ourselves in is unprecedented, unique, and has never happened before. We will do our due diligence with this and communication will be issued when appropriate. Also, please note that this judge’s decision impacts school districts in different ways depending upon if the school district is a defendant or not a defendant. So, neighboring school districts are making their own individual decisions about their situation, just as our school district is doing.”
She reiterated that students would still be required to wear masks on the bus, that test-to-stay is canceled for the time being and that parents would learn more about the exclusion of close contacts from school on Tuesday. She also notified parents that the district would not be providing a remote option for students.
Grischow’s ruling did not only place a temporary restraining order on mask mandates for those listed within the lawsuit, but it also deemed Pritzer’s mandate for regular testing or proof of vaccination from school staff “null and void.” It also voids rules from the Illinois Department of Public Health outlining a school’s obligation to “exclude” students from school who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 or are a “close contact” to someone with COVID-19.
If the appellate court does not issue a stay on the ruling, then individual school districts will decide if a mask mandate and teacher vaccine and testing mandates will remain in place.
Illinois Education Association (IEA) President Kathi Griffin released the following statement following Friday’s decision:
“This decision has the potential to shut our schools down, effectively closing our school buildings and perhaps being potent enough to stop in-person learning altogether. We’ve been able to have students in classrooms all over the state for this school year and last and that’s because public health safety measures have been taken that follow the advice of scientists and health care professionals. Without those safety measures in place, we risk forcing thousands of teachers, education employees and students to be out sick or forced into quarantine.
“The teacher and education employee shortage is at a crisis level. Schools are shutting down because they do not have enough healthy employees to safely hold classes even though staff continues to give up their plan time and lunches to cover classes. The science is there: masking, along with vaccines, testing, social distancing, and quarantining, are the best ways to protect against the virus. Removing any of these protections would be detrimental to our students and staff safety and will almost certainly force schools across the state to close because of a staffing shortage. Omicron is proof to us that though we may be done with the virus, the virus is not done with us.
“Keeping students in the classroom is so important, but only if the environment is safe. The judge’s ruling today calls into question the safety of schools across the state and we will support all efforts to stop its immediate implementation while state and district defendants pursue an appeal. Keeping learning and working conditions safe inside schools is imperative to keep our communities safe and our school buildings open for in-person learning. ”
