Masks Optional For Students Starting Friday At Summit Hill SD161

FRANKFORT, IL — Students at Summit Hill School District 161 in Frankfort will be given the option whether to wear masks to school starting Friday. Summit Hill SD161's Board of Education voted unanimously for the change in mask policy at its emergency meeting Tuesday night.

Board members did caution that the mask optional policy could be rescinded and a return to a mask required policy is still possible, pending the outcome of an appeal of a downstate judge's Temporary Restraining Order issued Friday.

Summit Hill SD161's decision comes as other school districts in the area — including Frankfort School District 147-C and Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 — made the switch to mask optional policies this week.

The Summit Hill SD161 Board of Education said it wanted to wait until the end of the week to make the mask policy switch, so as to give school staff and parents time to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow ruled Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration had, with emergency orders the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health issued on Sept. 17, 2021, improperly delegated authority that state lawmakers had granted to public health officials. Grischow's ruling is a Temporary Restraining Order against those mandates.

Summit Hill SD161 was not one of the approximately 150 defendants in that case. Although her ruling only directly applies to the plaintiffs named in the case, Grischow noted that "Any non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly," leaving the door open for all school districts to enact their own policies.

Also as part of her ruling, Grischow said unvaccinated school staff who do not want to be required to be vaccinated or take weekly COVID-19 tests must be afforded due process.

On Monday, Pritzker said the "ruling is out of step with the vast majority of legal analysis in Illinois and across the nation." The governor said he has asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to ask another judge to quickly overturn the ruling.

Pritzker is expected to hold a press conference Wednesday, where he is anticipated to relax most of the state's mask mandates for indoor public settings. School mask mandates, however, are not expected to be included in those relaxations.

Related:

• Pritzker To Phase Out Mask Mandate In Illinois: Reports
• Judge Blocks School Mask Mandate, Voids COVID-19 Emergency Orders
• Frankfort SD157-C Mask Optional Following Court Ruling
• Lincoln-Way D210 Goes Mask Optional Following Court Ruling