(The Center Square) – Nearly 60 schools have been put on probation or listed as not recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education for failing to follow a statewide mask mandate for schools.
Some locally elected school boards have since complied, but a parents’ rights group says it is government overreach.
This comes as a measure filed at the statehouse would give ISBE the ability to revoke a school’s recognition status for not following COVID-19 rules signals to some that the governor and ISBE don't yet have that authority.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered all schools to mandate masks after many local school boards made masking optional.
He’s been adamant ISBE will punish schools that don’t comply. Pritzker says the move is meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.
Publicly listed through the ISBE website, 59 schools didn’t comply and were placed on probation or listed as not recognized, potentially threatening state funding for those schools. If they comply, the state can restore recognition.
As of Friday, 40 schools were listed as still on probation or not recognized.
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