LW-Area Schools Choose Mask Optional Policies Following Court Ruling

Editorial note: An earlier version of this article stated that Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 was not plaintiff in the lawsuit, when it was not a defendant. The article has been corrected to reflect that.

NEW LENOX, IL — Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 notified parents Sunday that its schools would be mask optional starting Monday following a judge's ruling that voided mask mandates in schools.

In a letter posted Sunday on the District's website, Lincoln-Way D210 Superintendent Scott Tingley wrote that the District plans to follow a Temporary Restraining Order issued Friday by Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow.

The District operates three high schools: Lincoln-Way Central and Lincoln-Way West in New Lenox, and Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort.

Tingley noted Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education are appealing Grischow's order, and that the District would abide by whatever decision comes from the appeal.

Masks will still be required on buses because that is a federal guideline, he wrote.

"This decision makes masking optional, so we encourage you to make the most appropriate choice for yourself and your family," Tingley wrote.

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Grischow ruled Friday that the Pritzker 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.

Lincoln-Way D210 was not one of about 150 other defendants in that case. Although her ruling only directly applies to those 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 similar policies, including Lincoln-Way D210.

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.

A District official told Patch via email that "Lincoln-Way has never excluded staff or students due to vaccination status."