Pritzker mask mandate for Illinois schools unlikely to quell COVID-19 battles at suburban districts

At first glance, the hurling of F-bombs, menacing threats and burly security guards whisking away unruly members of the crowds packing suburban school board meetings in recent weeks seems straight out of a reality TV show.

But the scenes are unfolding in real time across the Chicago suburbs, where concerned parents and beleaguered school district officials on Wednesday greeted Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate with everything from anger and sadness to relief and appreciation.

“Parents should be making the choice if they want their kids masked,” said Jenna Shields, a mother from Barrington.

“Hospitalizations are at pandemic lows, a vaccine is available. … Where does this stop?” Shields said.

Arlington Heights parent Nathan Ulery, who, like Shields, has been closely following the student mask issue, had a different reaction to the governor’s universal masking decree.

“Mandating universal masking at school is the right move,” Ulery said. “It was time to end the chaos brought on by school boards and superintendents who refused to listen to the federal, state, and local health experts and pediatrician groups.”

Pritzker’s mask mandate for students in preschool through high school statewide arrives just weeks before the start of the 2021-22 school year, as school boards across Illinois scramble to update their COVID-19 guidance following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation last week that everyone wear masks in schools, regardless of vaccination status.

“Given our current trajectory in hospitalizations and ICU usage, we have a limited amount of time right now to stave off the highest peaks of this surge going into the fall,” Pritzker said.

At Elgin-basked Unit School District 46, Superintendent Tony Sanders expressed support for Pritzker’s mandate, which helped bolster his recent recommendation that all of the district’s roughly 37,000 students, teachers and staff at more than 50 schools wear masks indoors.

“I applaud the governor for taking a direct action to protect students from the spread of COVID-19, especially this delta variant. ... He absolutely did the right thing,” Sanders said.

Deerfield mom Michelle Hammer said she will ensure her two teenage daughters comply with Pritzker’s masking mandate when they start classes at Deerfield High School later this month.

But Hammer said she remains disheartened about the escalating tensions in her community after a recent dust-up with a Township High School District 113 school board member, who Hammer said directed an expletive toward her during a Monday virtual board meeting.

The president of the District 113 school board, Jodi Shapira, said in a Wednesday statement, “while no excuse, this incident is an unfortunate and regretful example of the raw emotions that have been unleashed by so many over the past 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Yet, consistent with district policy, it is our expectation that all members of the District 113 community will be respectful and civil in their interactions with each other, even, and perhaps especially, when discussing controversial and divisive topics of concern to all,” Shapira said.

Hammer said while her children will follow the state’s mask mandate at school, she remains troubled by the prospect of the school board imposing restrictions on students who are not vaccinated.

“Everything has become so divisive. ... My friend has a 14-year-old son who told her he’s afraid he’s going to be left out of activities if he’s not vaccinated,” Hammer said.

Since the pandemic began, battles have been erupting across suburban Chicago over schools’ responses to the pandemic, ranging from parents protesting in favor of schools reopening to board members facing threats on social media.

This summer, some members of the crowd at a Barrington Community School District 220 board meeting were escorted out of the room by security, and a recent District 45 meeting in Villa Park was adjourned after a mask debate devolved into a shouting match.

In Arlington Heights School District 25, where the school board had approved a mask optional policy last month, Superintendent Lori Bein said in a Wednesday parent letter that beginning immediately, everyone will be required to wear masks inside district buildings.

“This summer I have heard from and met with individuals representing many different viewpoints on masking in our schools and I want you to know that I have heard your concerns and feedback,” Bein wrote. “Today’s executive order, however, clearly states that masks are now required to be worn by anyone that enters one of our buildings as it is the safest way for our students and staff to return to full, in-person learning, five days a week.”

Illinois State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala said “Illinois will continue to follow the science, data, and public health experts to keep students in school and keep communities safe.”

“We know that consistent and correct mask use is the simplest, most effective way to keep students safely in school, where they can learn and grow to their fullest potential,” Ayala said.

The mandate applies to public and private schools. A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Chicago, which announced last month masks would be optional for vaccinated students and employees at Roman Catholic schools, said Wednesday officials plan to “issue new guidance that conforms to the governor’s announcement.”

Some legal experts who represent school districts were fielding questions Wednesday regarding enforcement of the mask requirement at the local level — in particular, how to deal with families that refuse to comply.

“School districts are already thinking about, ‘what if a student refuses to wear a mask?,’ or if there are parent protests and civil disobedience,” said Jennifer Smith, an attorney with Franczek PC, a Chicago law firm that represents around 150 school districts in Illinois.

Smith said she is not surprised masks and vaccines have become flashpoints in suburban communities, where “parents get passionate about issues affecting their schools.”

“I think the main difference is, before the pandemic, we would see an issue affecting one school district, but now, we’re seeing the same issue affecting all of the school districts at the same time,” Smith said.

Smith said she is not certain how the universal masking requirement will be enforced, but suspected the governor’s order will be considered a public health directive, similar to the restrictions imposed on public and private venues during the state shutdown in March 2020.

School administrators such as Sanders in Elgin said they appreciate the governor taking the thorny masking decision out of the hands of school districts by issuing a mandate, but enforcement is still up to local educators. In District 46, masking will be part of the school code of conduct, Sanders said.

“If a student arrives at school with no shoes on, they are excluded, so if a student refuses to mask up, they could be sent home,” Sanders said.

Sanders noted that fewer than 50% of students were in the classroom last year, and now school is “returning to something close to normal.”

“I wish we could focus on the positive, and celebrate our full return to school,” he said.

kcullotta@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kcullotta