Lake County Gazette

In deciding that the school will not be a mask-optional environment while not enforcing masks, Township High School District 113 Superintendent Dr. Bruce Law wants to make sure everyone at the school is on the same page on the issue.

“The decision not to enforce wearing masks is not the same thing as declaring masks are optional,” Law said in a message he recently sent to parents. “I do not have the authority to make that decision. My responsibility is to ensure that schools run smoothly and today’s decision aimed to make that more likely. Things are changing quickly in districts all around us. At the February 22 meeting, the Board will be considering action on our mitigations.”

Earlier this month, Sangamon County Circuit judge Raylene Grischow issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) effectively ending enforcement of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders on masks in schools. Grischow’s 30-page ruling further stipulates state law designates the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) as the “supreme authority” in matters of quarantine and isolation, not the governor. Finally, the judge asserted that IDPH must adhere to state law in making sure due process standards are applied.

Even as the governor has put in place a plan that will see the general statewide mask mandate lifted by the end of the month, he has been less clear when it comes to the one affecting schools across the state.

While the governor appealed Grischow’s ruling, more than 550 school districts across the state have already made the decision to go fully mask-optional.

Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) said Pritzker tried to subvert the state’s courts to maintain his policy standards by issuing a new mask mandate through the IDPH.

In rendering her decision, Grischow called attention to the governor’s approach to dealing with the pandemic, adding that many of those opposed to his position haven’t always had the benefit of due process.   

“The arbitrary method as to contact tracing and masking in general continue to raise fair questions as to the legality of the Executive Orders in light of violations of healthy children’s substantive due process rights,” she wrote. “Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain.”

In separate cases, the judge has also denied motions for there to be class status, meaning the TRO would only impact the plaintiffs and the school districts that are part of the suit. In addition, Grischow has now ordered Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to appear before the court to answer a contempt of court complaint on the district’s behalf.

"It is ordered that Mr. Pedro Martinez, as agent for the City of Chicago School District #299, and the Board of Education of City of Chicago School District #299, shall personally appear before this court and show cause as to why the defendants should not be held in contempt for failure to abide by and comply with this Court's prior order of February 04, 2022," Grischow’s Feb. 14 order reads.

CPS was one of 145 defendant school districts sued by parents across the state seeking to end masking. As the cases have made their way through the court system, attorney Tom DeVore has frequently threatened to sue CPS for not obeying a restraining order preventing the district from treating students who unmask differently from those who continue to mask.

Within 24 hours of Grischow rendering her decision, the DuPage Policy Journal reported Hinsdale Central High school officials were captured on video guiding students who refused to wear masks into an isolated area of the school. DeVore has vowed to pursue criminal complaints for contempt of court against school officials who abuse the rights of plaintiffs that are part of the suit.

“If I can confirm that the Hinsdale School District or any school district is isolating children that are plaintiffs in this case, and I know that to be true, I'm going to ask the judge, 'Put somebody in the county jail' as soon as I have the first available opportunity,” he said. “That's what I'm going to try to do because they cannot do that.”

A recent Pew Charitable Trust website analysis found that isolation is taking a toll on students, with the number of emergency room visits among them for suspected suicide attempts jumping by 31% since the start of COVID. The Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association declared children’s mental health a “national emergency” since the start of COVID.