Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 will make masks optional for the upcoming school year, the school board and district officials confirmed at a meeting Wednesday night.
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended all teachers, staff, students and visitors in schools wear face masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status. This recommendation was quickly adopted by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Earlier in July, the CDC had said masks should be worn by those who are not vaccinated.
District 155 Superintendent Steve Olson noted that guidance on reopening schools from state and federal officials continues to shift and change quickly.
But right now, “based on current health data,” the district has decided to start the 2021-22 school year with a mask-optional approach for staff and students, except on school buses where they’re required, Olson said.
Families in the audience were visibly relieved that masks will not be required in school this year, though Olson cautioned that these decisions are subject to change based upon community spread, changing public health conditions and updates from the CDC, McHenry County Department of Health and Illinois State Board of Education.
At this point, the CDC, ISBE and local and state health departments have not mandated that schools require masks.
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School districts rise and fall. Crystal Lake, Lake Zurich & Wheeling will start ticking up in the rankings bypassing Barrington, is my prediction. Barrington has voted in four hypochondriacs to the school board so the students and staff will likely suffer under mask mandates, mandatory testing, and quarantine quandaries while surrounding schools are free from the madness.