A local petition is circulating to allow unvaccinated children in Illinois' District 21 to go maskless in school. | Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema
A local petition is circulating to allow unvaccinated children in Illinois' District 21 to go maskless in school. | Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema
With the school year fast approaching, the debate on whether students should attend school with or without masks is quickly heating up.
Local father Mike Prochaska has started a campaign seeking signatures to “Unmask our children in Wheeling, Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights.”
The petition itself states: "This petition is to give us (the parents) 'THE CHOICE' to unmask our children regardless of vaccination status. It’s not the school's job to determine what is best concerning the health of our children. We as the parents have that Choice and the board of D21 has a choice to say mask optional regardless of vaccination.
"The CDC and the IDPH have also given a choice of local judgement. We as parents have watched too much taken from our children over the last 16 months and it’s time to get back to a normal school year! Sign the petition if you are like-minded and want to see a change in our schools."
Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis) spoke with Dr. Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), seeking answers to questions about mask mandates and what the state's students could expect when school begins again in the fall, according to the East Central Reporter.
Ezike herself has not fully acquainted herself with the mask mandates, but she did say her team was looking into it.
“We will look at that. I have to read the fine print to see if they recommended that for all youth sports. We will absolutely support that and follow the CDC’s recommendation,” she said, according to the East Central Reporter.
For now, Ezike said that “we keep our masks on unless we’re vaccinated and then we have a reprieve.”
Alerts Sign-up