Rock Island Today

Silvis School District 34 Superintendent Terri VandeWiele has alerted parents the district will now be mask-optional following an appellate court decision rendering Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mandate unconstitutional.

“Just before midnight on February 17, the Illinois Appellate Court made a ruling that gave schools more flexibility in the decision whether or not to require masks,” VandeWiele said in a post to Facebook. “After a great deal of discussion and consideration, the Silvis School District has made the decision to move to a mask-optional policy. Starting on February 22, the Silvis School District will strongly encourage mask wearing, but will not mandate mask wearing.”

In light of the changes, school officials are encouraging parents to speak with their children about doing what they feel is best for them while also respecting the decisions of other students and families.

“We will not tolerate any bullying, name calling, or any actions that make any student feel uncomfortable when masking in school,” she said. “Our goal is to support all family decisions whether it is to mask or not to mask.”

System changes come after Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) earlier this month effectively ending the depth of the governor’s order. As part of a 30-page ruling, Grischow also stipulated that state law designates the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) as the “supreme authority” in matters of quarantine and isolation, not the governor. The judge asserted that IDPH must adhere to state law in making sure due process standards are upheld in every instance.

As the governor has said he will be lifting the general statewide mask mandate within a matter of days, he has offered far fewer details about the executive order still impacting schools across the state. While Pritzker has appealed the judge’s decision, more than 550 school districts across the state have  gone mask-optional.

Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) has accused the governor of trying to subvert the state’s court system to keep his policies in place.

In her ruling, Grischowwrote that many of those opposed to Pritzker's position haven’t always had the benefit of due process in making their arguments.

“The arbitrary method as to contact tracing and masking in general continue to raise fair questions as to the legality of the Executive Orders in light of violations of healthy children’s substantive due process rights,” she wrote. “Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain.”

In separate cases, the judge denied motions for there to be class status, meaning the TRO would only impact the plaintiffs and the school districts that are part of the suit. Grischow also ordered Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to appear before the court to answer a contempt of court complaint on the district’s behalf.

"It is ordered that Mr. Pedro Martinez, as agent for the City of Chicago School District #299, and the Board of Education of City of Chicago School District #299, shall personally appear before this court and show cause as to why the defendants should not be held in contempt for failure to abide by and comply with this Court's prior order of February 04, 2022," Grischow’s Feb. 14 order reads.

As the campaign to end masking picked up steam, Chicago Public Schools emerged as one of 145 defendant school districts to formally face suit. As the cases have made their way through the court system, attorney Tom DeVore has threatened to sue CPS for not obeying a restraining order preventing the district from treating students who unmask differently from those who continue to mask.

Within 24-hours of Grischow publicly rendering her verdict, the DuPage Policy Journal reported Hinsdale Central High school officials were captured on video guiding students who refused to wear masks into an isolated area of the school. DeVore said he will start pursuing criminal complaints for contempt of court against school officials who abuse the rights of plaintiffs that are part of the suit.

“If I can confirm that the Hinsdale School District or any school district is isolating children that are plaintiffs in this case, and I know that to be true, I'm going to ask the judge, 'Put somebody in the county jail' as soon as I have the first available opportunity,” he said. “That's what I'm going to try to do because they cannot do that.”