GREENE: Mask mandate lifted in Illinois schools

By Carmen Ensinger

While students and teachers returned to school “mask optional” on Monday for the first time in 695 days, it might not be such a good idea to burn those masks just yet.
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) halting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools finding that the measurers violated the due process rights of those involved and are beyond the Governor’s authority.
“This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken, not only on this state but throughout the nation and globe,” Grischow wrote in the 29-page court ruling. “Nonetheless, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the boundaries of the authority granted under the Constitution.
“There is no doubt that the public has a strong interest in stopping the spread of this virus, but such does not allow our government ‘to act unlawfully even in the pursuit of desirable ends.’”
On Saturday, however, Gov. Pritzker filed an emergency motion to stay Friday’s TRO which directly affects 146 school districts named in the TRO, which includes Carrollton School District.
“The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities — and this may force schools to go remote,” Pritzker said. “This shows yet again that the mask mandate and school exclusion protocols are essential tools to keep schools open and everyone safe.”
In addition to masks, the TRO also addresses vaccine mandates and COVID testing. The TRO prohibits specific schools named in the lawsuit from:
Requiring the use of masks for students and teachers who occupy their buildings.
Ordering school districts to require persons who are both unvaccinated and work in Illinois schools to provide weekly negative results of an approved COVID-19 test or be vaccinated if they object in order to occupy the school building without first providing them due process of law.
Ordering school districts to refuse admittance to their buildings for teachers and students for specified periods of time if the teacher or student is deemed a “close contact” of a confirmed probably COVID-19 case without providing due process to that individual if they object unless the local health department has deemed the individual a close contact after following the procedures outlined in 20ILCS2305 and 77 Ill.Adm. Code 690.1330.
The decision has been criticized by the state’s two major teachers unions, the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT).
IEA President Kathi Griffin issued the following statement on behalf of its members.
“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,” she said. “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.”
IFT President Dan Montgomery agreed in his statement.
“The Illinois Federation of Teachers is greatly distressed at the judge’s TRO in this case,” he said. Hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and staff across Illinois are doing their best to remain healthy and keep schools open. We believe what the judge ordered today is legally faulty and a threat to public health and, most importantly, a threat to keeping Illinois schools open for in-person learning.  Our children and their families need certainty and some normalcy at school, not legal wrangling managed by a small minority of citizens.