About 40 Genoa-Kingston Middle School pupils protest Pritzker’s indoor mask mandate

GENOA – About 40 Genoa-Kingston Middle School pupils protested Gov. JB Pritzker’s school mask mandate Friday morning, Superintendent Brent O’Daniell said.

The students began protesting outside the middle school building around 7:45 a.m., before the start of the school day, until a little after 9 a.m., he said.

O’Daniell said that administrators and the school resource officer, Genoa police Chief Robert Smith, allowed the protest and supervised it.

Smith said he happened to stop by the middle school on his rounds and saw the protest. He said the approximately 40 students were very respectful.

“Some had signs, some were chanting a little,” he said. “They were fine and caused no trouble.”

Smith said that parents also were nearby, with most in their cars watching.

O’Daniell said in his 15 years of being a school administrator, he had never experienced students protesting outside the building during a school day.

“We respect their thoughts, their opinions and beliefs, and we recognize their frustrations,” he said. “We hear them. We appreciate them doing it peacefully. They utilized their right to petition and protest.”

O’Daniell said that the school board is following the governor’s mask mandate.

Pritzker imposed an indoor mask mandate for schools in August following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says “everyone in K-12 schools should wear a mask indoors, including teachers, staff, students, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.”