ELGIN – Parents concerned about their children being forced to wear COVID masks when the 2021-22 school year begins are engaging with their local elected officials and school boards with hopes of lifting restrictions. A recent announcement from the Illinois State Board of Education agitated the mask discussion, and a response from Governor Pritzker's office heightened confusion for parents.
Over the past few weeks, school districts throughout Illinois have lifted mask requirements for all students – even those below age 12, the Center of Disease Control's minimum age for approved vaccinations. While stating clearly that masks are no longer required for those fully vaccinated, the CDC was more vague about those that are not vaccinated – saying they "recommend" unvaccinated persons (all students under age 12) wear masks as one layer of protection against COVID. The other "layers" include social distancing, hand washing and COVID screening testing.
The Elgin District U-46 will be deciding their mask policy Monday night, July 19, and a growing group of parents have been pleading with their school board to hold the meeting in a location that will allow for more than 75 participants – the number the ad hoc parents' group is expecting.
However, the parents are being met with a school board that is resisting the idea.
In response to a query from Illinois Review, U-46 School Board President Susan Kerr wrote in an email, "U-46 School Board meetings are held at the central office in Elgin where there is room to accommodate the crowd, including overflow rooms with streaming live video. Any attendee who signs up to speak will be allowed to speak within the guidelines established for public participation. We are fully in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.
She went on to say the school board meetings are available via Zoom webinar in addition to YouTube.
"The Zoom webinar allows 1,000 attendees to attend and sign up to speak pursuant to our protocols for public comments which are posted on our Board agenda. Those who wish to view the meeting, but not participate, can do so via YouTube live," she wrote.
The Board "prides itself on our level of transparency and openness to the public," Kerr wrote. The equipment that allows for the online public access is built into the existing Board room, she wrote. "Shifting to an alternate location would actually make us less transparent."
That response wasn't acceptable to Jeanette Ward, a parent concerned about the mask requirement and a former U-46 school board member.
"Many, many other school districts across the state have accommodated the public who wished to speak and be present in the same room, without requiring masks," Ward said in a statement.
Ward then pointed to an auditorium in the same building at U-46 District Headquarters (355 East Chicago Street, Elgin, where this meeting will be held) where the expected larger-than-usual group could be accommodated.
"Yet the U-46 Board of Education refuses to accommodate these parents and concerned citizens," she said. "Why?"
The question remains unanswered, but President Kerr did tell Illinois Review that while there will not be an overall time limit on public comment next Monday, there is a time limit on individual public comment. (Guidelines here: https://www.u-46.org/Page/9067)
GOVERNOR PRITZKER'S CONFUSING STATEMENT
Last Friday, Governor Pritzker's office sent out a press release explaining the CDC's standards, which caused some confusion.
Major elements of the updated CDC guidance included:
• Masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (age 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated.
• CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms, combined with indoor mask wearing by people who are not fully vaccinated, to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully reopen while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as indoor masking.
• Screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick and getting tested, contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation, and cleaning and disinfection are also important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.
• Many schools serve children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (masking, distancing, testing) to protect people who are not fully vaccinated.
After the release, the governor's office then said they would leave the decision about mask wearing for those under 12 to the local school officials.
Before the announcement, parents were pressuring their local school boards to make mask wearing optional for those under 12 and older students that are not vaccinated. In the past few weeks, an Illinois parents Facebook page lists at least 30 Illinois school districts have decided to loosen the mask requirements.
More to come ….
