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Algonquin-based Community School District 300, and Cary School District 26 both made masking optional following special meetings this weekend in response to an appellate court decision last week that ruled COVID-19 mitigation policies in schools had expired and no longer applied.
The pair of districts join many others across McHenry County, who began reaffirming their masking policies that called for recommended, but not required, masking in schools.
Originally, after a Feb. 4 ruling from a Sangamon County court said Gov. JB Pritzker didn’t have the authority to issue the mask mandate, many districts in McHenry County opted to move to a recommended masking policy. However, District 26 and District 300 said at the time that only those mentioned in the lawsuit would not have to wear masks, requiring everyone else to do so.
A little more than a week later, on Feb. 15, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a legislative panel in Springfield, voted to suspend the newest version of COVID-19 mitigation, which included masks, for schools in Illinois after they were set to expire. The committee cited the pending litigation surrounding the rules as a reason why.
As a result, the appellate court Thursday said because those rules had expired, they could no longer be applied, allowing school districts across the state to issue their own decisions on masking and other protocols.
In a letter issued after an emergency school board meeting Saturday, District 26 Superintendent Brian Coleman said masking will be “strongly recommended,” but not required.
Close contacts also will not be excluded from school, another departure from District 26′s previous plans. However, the isolation policy will remain in effect for those who test positive for COVID-19, requiring them to stay home for at least five days and be symptom-free when they return. Those staff and students also will be required to wear a mask for days 6 through 10 of the isolation period.
Masking also still is required on buses, per federal policy, Coleman said in the letter. He also left open the door for temporary masking if an outbreak were to occur “for students to remain safe at school and reduce transmission.”
Coleman cited a few reasons in the letter for the change beyond the court ruling, including declining incident and positivity rates and strong vaccination rates among staff.
“We believe this is the right course of action at this time as we continue to move forward,” Coleman said in the letter. “Thank you for your patience and continued support.”
District 300 Superintendent Susan Harkin sent out a similar letter after a meeting Sunday, which also announced a transition to recommended masking and no longer requiring close contacts to be removed from school. It also states, like District 26, a policy that allows the school board to reimpose masks if it decides it’s the safest measure to take.
The district plans on adopting a tiered approach to decide whether to return to certain mitigations, including masking, Harkin said at the meeting.
The current tier – where masks are strongly recommended, but not required – will be adopted when the county positivity rate is below 8%, the district and building positivity rates are below 1.5%, student absence rate is below 10% and ICU bed usage is less than 30%.
Masks can become required in certain situations, including in the hallways, band, choir and physical education, if metrics head in the wrong direction, Harkin said.
If they worsen further, then masks would be required by staff, students and visitors all the time, according to the presentation. That would happen if the county positivity rate is above 10%, the district and building positivity rates are above 3%, student absence rate is above 15% and ICU bed usage is above 60%.
Harkin apologized in the letter for “any confusion or frustration” on Friday following Thursday’s ruling, which had led to District 300 not enforcing its masking policy that day. Harkin acknowledged that some felt the district had transitioned to recommended masks without notice.
Earlier in the week, Harkin in a Feb. 16 letter said the district would be transitioning at some point to a mask-recommended policy, but did not specify when it would happen. District 300 serves about 23,000 students.
“I am very proud of our District 300 staff, Board, and families, who have pivoted through every curveball thrown at us, from remote instruction to the surge in January that nearly closed our doors,” Harkin said in the letter. “The last two years have not been an easy time for us, and I look forward to a future where we come together, as one District 300 community, in support of all students.”