Reversal of state mask mandate creates 'tremendous amount of confusion' at Illinois schools
ELGIN, Ill. - There was confusion over masks in schools across Illinois Monday after a downstate judge ruled that state mask mandates do not have to be enforced at certain school districts.
Gov. JB Pritzker said the ruling is misguided. He is having Attorney General Kwame Raoul seek an emergency appeal to overturn.
"The judge has created a tremendous amount of confusion, even in the way she wrote her decision," Pritzker said. "So that has been problematic. We’ve asked, did in fact, have the Attorney General staff talking to the staffs of schools all across the state over the weekend, to give them their best advice and allowing them to make decisions for themselves. But we want to make sure that we’re getting an appeal heard as soon as possible so that we can rid ourselves of the fog of you know, frankly, not good decision-making."
Meanwhile, administrators in districts across the state are trying to interpret Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow’s decision.
Parents are getting different messages.
It was a scramble over the weekend for administrators, they had to let families what the rules would be for Monday since the mask policy was challenged in court.
Tony Sanders, superintendent of Elgin District U-46, decided to keep the mask requirement in place, for now. He wrote a letter to parents advising them of his decision to keep mask policies in place, even though the district was named in the lawsuit that challenged the governor’s executive order on masks.
Monday seemed like just another day at Abbott Middle School. Students are in the habit of wearing masks to school.
Several school districts made masks optional while some canceled classes altogether.
Elgin schools keep mask requirement in place despite judge's ruling
Tony Sanders, superintendent of Elgin District U-46, joins Good Day Chicago to explain why they are keeping mask requirements in place for student's despite a judge's decision to effectively prohibit a statewide mask requirement in schools.
In Elgin, there was a surge in COVID cases after the holidays but now that number is decreasing.
"Those numbers are coming down. I think we will be mask optional in a few weeks. I’m not comfortable enough to make that decision or recommendation to our board," Sanders said.
Elgin District U-46 has collective bargaining agreements not affected by the court ruling similar to Chicago Public Schools.