As school districts across the nation begin preparing for mask-free classrooms, schools in Chicago reaffirmed that mask mandates would remain in place even after an Illinois judge ruled to suspend orders on Friday.
The ruling comes as a number of states have announced plans to lift mask mandates in schools as COVID cases across the country have begun to recede.
On Friday, Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow ruled that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker exceeded his authority by imposing mandates in schools and deemed the measures “null and void.”
The governor has asked the attorney general’s office for an immediate appeal of the decision.
In a statement issued over the weekend, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) claimed that the temporary restraining order “does not prohibit CPS from exercising its authority to continue its COVID-19 mitigation policies and procedures, including universal masking by students and staff.”
On Monday, the Democratic governors of New Jersey both set a timeline for the end of the mandates, with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy allowing students and schools to be unmasked beginning March and Delaware Governor John Carney announcing an end to school mask mandates as of April.
Murphy called it a move towards a “new normal.”
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Despite the relaxing of restrictions in other states, schools in Chicago are hoping that keeping mask mandates in place at this time will lower the city’s virus spread to a threshold that would eventually allow for orders to be lifted.
“We are confident that masking and vaccination have been key parts of keeping the virus transmission low in our classrooms this school year and successfully allowed our faculty and students to safely teach and learn in person,” CPS said in a statement. “Our caseload is declining and the number of vaccinated students and staff continues to increase. We will stay the course.”
After the highly transmissible Omicron variant ravaged Illinois, infections have finally begun to drop dramatically over the past week.
However, neither the city nor district officials have announced when they plan to begin rolling back on COVID safety measures in Chicago’s schools.
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) noted that the judge’s Friday order acknowledged the recent collective bargaining agreement, which CTU says would allow masking to still be enforced.
“CTU members made real sacrifices in January to bargain for an enforceable safety agreement with Mayor Lightfoot’s CPS team, and today that agreement guarantees masking and other critical protections that will allow us to protect our school communities,” the union said in a statement.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office has already filed an emergency stay aimed at pausing Grischow’s temporary restraining order on the mandates.
“This decision sends the message that all students do not have the same right to safely access schools and classrooms in Illinois, particularly if they have disabilities or other health concerns,” Raoul wrote in a Friday statement.
According to CPS, just over half of students aged 12 or older are now fully vaccinated and about a third of those 5 to 11-years-old have received at least one shot.
