Appellate ruling doesn’t change mask policies for many McHenry County school districts

An appellate court ruling isn’t changing how many McHenry County school districts are approaching their policies on masks and other COVID-19 mitigations.

Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47, Woodstock School District 200, Community High School District 155, Huntley School District 158 and McHenry High School District 156 all said Friday that they would continue to recommend, but not require, masks.

Attempts to reach the two McHenry County school districts named in the lawsuit challenging Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s mask mandate for schools that kept masks required for all but the plaintiffs – Cary School District 26 and Algonquin-based Community School District 300 – were not successful.

District 300 Superintendent Susan Harkin announced Wednesday that the district would be moving to a mask-recommended environment but did not provide a date for when that would happen. She pointed to falling COVID-19 positivity rates among students and staff as a decision driving the change.

“The transition to a mask-recommended environment will be complex for a district our size,” Harkin said. “District 300 is the sixth-largest school district in Illinois. We are home to nearly 20,000 students and 2,400 building-level staff, each with a unique perspective or concern, including nearly 1,800 students identified as immunocompromised or with health concerns. Therefore, we anticipate the transition to a mask-recommended environment will be met with optimism and anxiety.”

The McHenry County Department of Health recommends schools “adopt a layered approach to mitigation to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” spokeswoman Lindsey Salvatelli said in an email. When asked whether that includes masks, Salvatelli said the department encourages school districts “to continue as many public health mitigation strategies as possible.”

The health department also advises residents to get vaccinated and stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations, she said. School districts still are required to report suspected COVID-19 outbreaks, after which health department staff will conduct a case investigation and contact tracing in cooperation with the school.

The decision to stick with optional masking for now doesn’t mean masks won’t ever return to Woodstock hallways, District 200 spokesman Kevin Lyons said.

Since masks went optional, “we’ve had no outbreaks. We’ve had no big spikes in cases,” Lyons said. “There’s been a lot of times I think we thought we were out of the woods and we weren’t quite.”

District 156 also noted that it hasn’t seen an upward tick in cases.

The district’s positivity rate has decreased significantly over the past month and is currently below 1% for staff and students since last Monday, Superintendent Ryan McTague said in a letter to families.

“Our hope is that the trend will continue moving forward,” he said. “If we begin to see a rise in COVID-positive cases at the local site-based level, we may need to employ additional mitigation strategies.”

He also pointed to other strategies the district is using to lower the chance of COVID-19 spreading in its schools, including physical distancing as much as possible, regular cleaning and disinfecting, encouraging hand-washing, recommending those who are sick to stay home, and providing optional on-site SHIELD testing for staff and students.

Optional masks aligns with District 47′s reopening plan from July, before the executive orders and emergency rules were handed down, Superintendent Kathy Hinz said in a letter to families Friday, reaffirming the current policy. Layered mitigation by the district will continue to take place, as well, she said.

District 155 will continue with its approach, which includes recommending, but not requiring, masks and encouraging students who are close contacts to stay home but not excluding them, the district said in a letter to families. Increased cleaning and sanitizing protocols also will continue, according to the letter.

Similar to other districts, students in District 155 still will be required to wear masks on school buses because that is a federal requirement separate from the state mandates.

“We encourage staff and students to stay home if they’re not feeling well and to physically distance themselves to the extent possible,” according to the letter.

District 158 also will “experience no change in current masking requirements,” spokeswoman Alex LeMoine said in an email Friday.

“The district will continue to strongly recommend that masks be worn in our schools,” LeMoine said. “As always, our priority remains the success and safety of our students and staff as we prioritize an in-person learning environment. We appreciate the flexibility of our families, staff and community as we work to continue to provide a safe environment and high-quality instruction for all of our students as we respond to the evolution of mitigation measures in schools all across the state.”