Glenview parents protest mask policy at the largest Catholic school in the Chicago Archdiocese
While Illinois public school mask mandates have been shot down by a downstate court, Catholic school mandates continue to draw protests.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview plans to keep requiring masks. In fact, the Chicago archdiocese has said it will continue to require masks at all Catholic schools.
Some parents had hoped the ruling would put an end to mask mandates, saying they're looking for an off-ramp.
DOWNLOAD THE FOX 32 CHICAGO APP FOR BREAKING NEWS ALERTS
About 30 to 40 protestors gathered outside OLPH Tuesday morning, carrying signs calling for choice. Drivers passing by showed their support for the protesters by honking their horns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said children can get ill from the Covid-19 virus and, while rare, they can die from it.
But parents who attended the protest said the superintendent of schools for the diocese has not considered the negative impact of masking kids.
"If somebody wants me to wear my mask near them, I'll totally put it up. But far away or like at my desk I want to be able to breathe easier. But like it doesn't go against my morals to wear it near someone if they want me to," said Lawson Speildenner, a fifth grade student.
But Speildenner said he has been forced to wear a mask for too long.
"It's very, very, very annoying. And in a lot of places around the country are unmasked except for us. Thirty-seven states. And a lot of places in Illinois. And the court just ruled and the fact that the archdiocese wants to keep (masks)...it's a little frustrating."
"I think it's time. It's been two years. Two years! Right? Two years. And we're still here," said David Kolssak, the father of an eighth grader at OLPH.
When asked what could be done now, Kolssak said "the kids have to do it."
"If all the kids are masks off, it at least the ones who don't want to wear them anymore, if they just took them off (school officials) can't enforce it. They can't police everybody. They can't put everybody in jail," he said.
Not all Catholic schools have the same rules. Other diocese around the state like Belleville Rockford and Springfield have made masks optional in light of the court ruling.
But in Arlington Heights, Saint Viator High School chose to go to remote learning Tuesday.
SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES FROM FOX 32 NEWS
A letter to parents said, "We have asked our legal counsel to review the Sangamon County order and provide a recommendation to us on how, if at all, it impacts our community."
Cissy Natale, who said she has seven grandchildren in Catholic schools, said "The archdiocesan was a leader at the beginning of Covid with opening up the schools and allowing our children to go to school in person."
Natale called on them to be a leader again in dropping mask mandates, which she called child abuse.
"It's time," said Natale. "We need to get masks off them. They need to be with their friends. They need to get back into life."