Morris District 54 to follow mask mandate

MORRIS – The Morris Elementary School District 54 said during its board meeting Monday night that it will follow the mask mandate issued by Gov. JB Pritzker stating that teachers and students must wear masks while indoors.

“During the superintendent’s report at the meeting, I said that we would be following the governor’s mandate,” Superintendent Shannon Dudek said. “Everything else in our return-to-school plan is the same except for that teachers and students now must wear masks indoors.”

In a letter to parents and staff on July 22, Dudek said:

I hope everyone is having a great summer and enjoying time with family and friends. We’ve had an incredible school year, and we’re excited to prepare for our students and the beginning of the new school year in a few short weeks. We’re anxiously awaiting our students and staff for our first day of school, which is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Although our school district is looking forward to returning to ‘normal’ in many ways, we are also well aware of the fact that although the COVID pandemic is waning, it is not yet completely behind us. On July 9, the Illinois Department of Public Health formally adopted the newly released [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance for K-12 schools.

Over the past week and a half, we have been carefully studying the revised guidance; and consulting with our neighboring school districts, legal counsel, insurance providers and the Grundy County Health Department.

At the July school board meeting, the Board of Education discussed the new CDC guidance along with a variety of other pandemic-related variables. As always, based on local COVID data and/or recommendations from local health officials, the current situation could potentially continue to evolve and change in the days and weeks ahead. At this time, I would like to share with you our expected Return to Learn Plan for District 54.

The key highlights of the Morris School District 54 Return to Learn Plans are listed below:

• All students will be provided a full day of in-person instruction.

• Individuals will not be required to disclose their vaccination status to school district officials. Parents, students and staff may wish to voluntarily disclose their vaccination status to avoid a mandatory quarantine for close contact with a COVID-positive person.

• The CDC/IDPH requires masks for all students/staff on any school district transportation – including buses and district-owned vans/cars/etc.

• Remote learning will not be offered to District 54 students.

• Students under a quarantine order by a local public health department or the IDPH will complete any missed assignments or homework per student handbook expectations.

• Currently, students under age 12 are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, to reduce opportunities for virus transmission, students in grades K-5 will remain in cohorts as much as possible. Students in K-5 cohorts may be required to temporarily mask in the case of a COVID-positive case(s) within the cohort.

• School district administration will continuously monitor local health data and consult with local public health officials. This health data will be periodically reported to the Board of Education and school district parents/guardians.

• Should local health data require increased mitigations (i.e. mask mandate, increased social distancing, changes in lunch service, remote learning, etc.) the Board of Education will not hesitate to make such changes to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff.”

A full copy of the letter may be found at morris54.org.

“Our job is to protect the kids and the school district,” Dudek said. “We aren’t going to go against a state mandate. As a superintendent, I have to separate my personal beliefs from my professional work. The original return-to-school plan was to be mask-optional, but now, we have to go with the mandate.”

Dudek said that there will be scheduled mask breaks for the students, and that they will be able to remove their masks when they go outside for physical education class or recess.

“We had a good experience last year, and we are going to do what we can in order to have the kids in school. If they have to wear masks, that’s what we’ll do.”