Chicago City Wire

Chicago Catholic Schools Superintendent Greg Richmond said Saturday he won't recognize a state court ruling that declared Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statewide student school mask requirement "null and void."

"We will continue the current mask policy for now," Richmond wrote in an email to parents, explaining that he believes the ruling doesn't apply to his schools because it involves "health and safety" and might be overturned, anyway.

"A court case is not medicine," he wrote. "While we follow the laws that apply to us, our decisions about the health and safety of our students and staff will always be guided by health data and in consultation with doctors and trained public health officials."

"The Governor has already indicated he will appeal this ruling, which might lead to its immediate reversal," he said. "We are closely monitoring the case, which will likely involve continued litigation."

Richmond said that letting students attend class maskless "would create confusion and disruption in our schools."

In a 30-page ruling Friday night, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow declared Pritzker's blanket state emergency school rules on masks and tests through the Illinois Department of Public Health "null and void." She said the governor and his agencies have been mandating rules upon students illegally.

“Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain," she wrote.

The Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools System includes 199 schools and 56,000 students. 

Richmond joined the Archdiocese in Aug. 2021. He previously spent 15 years working for the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and ten years as an executive with Chicago Public Schools under Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan.

Richmond started his career in state politics, working an aide to former Democrat Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan and as a lobbyist for the Chicago Board of Education.