A downstate judge temporarily halted mask mandates as part of a suit against COVID-19 mitigations in schools.
A downstate judge Friday evening put a temporary halt to mask mandates in nearly 170 school districts, including Chicago Public Schools. Those districts were named in a lawsuit that takes aim at the state’s COVID-19 mitigation measures and now won’t be required to wear masks.
Anticipating the ruling, Chicago Public Schools last week said it would fight to preserve the mask mandate. It said it would “strongly encourage” all students and staff to continue wearing masks. The state said it would seek an immediate appeal.
In her ruling, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow temporarily blocked schools from requiring masks and regular COVID testing for staff who are unvaccinated. Also, students and staff who are deemed close contact of someone infected with COVID-19 will no longer be barred from entering the building without due process.
In a more sweeping move, the judge deemed the governor’s emergency rules related to masking, vaccinations, testing and quarantining for all school districts “null and void.” But in a footnote, the judge said any district not named in the lawsuit may “govern themselves accordingly.” The implication is that it’s up to those school districts to decide whether to mandate COVID mitigations.
The judge denied class action status for the case. Only districts named in this lawsuit are under the restraining order.
The temporary order is one step as the judge moves toward issuing a final ruling. Grischow expressed deep skepticism in her ruling Friday about the legality of the state’s emergency COVID-19 school mandates.
“The plaintiffs have due process rights under the law which provide them a meaningful opportunity to object to any such mitigations being levied against them and it is these due process rights which are being continually violated,” Grischow wrote.
The judge agreed with the arguments that the governor had overstepped authority granted to him by the Legislature by delegating authority to the State Board of Education and local school districts as well as the idea that students and teachers were being required to mask, test and quarantine without due process rights.
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Thank God! And Tom Devore! Hunt’s #SeeTheStudent may actually have some meaning in the remainder of the school year.