Chicago City Wire

As the question about mask mandates in schools continues, some educators in Chicago are urging parents to make their voices heard in the Illinois Catholic school system, saying that upholding mask requirements is in violation of the law.

“I think the biggest issue that we have – and I've spoken with a lot of parents on this is – the lack of conformity or I think the lack of being straightforward with their decisions in terms of initially it was, 'We're following this because of the governmental order,'” Father Michael O’Brien, who is affiliated with St. Barnabas, told Chicago City Wire. “We are the constituents, and it's our decisions they need to listen to our needs.”

Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow last week issued a temporary restraining order, determining that Gov. J.B. Pritzker stepped outside his purview with his mask mandate for schools. The judge’s ruling also deems “null and void” other COVID-19 emergency orders Pritzker has issued. 

Parents and teachers legally challenged the governor’s actions. Oral arguments were last month.

“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," Grischow wrote.

The ruling does not extend to Chicago, as the city is not under the Sangamon County Circuit Court jurisdiction.

Even after the ruling was issued, some schools have been loathe to lift the mandates. Chicago Catholic Schools Superintendent Greg Richmond indicated that allowing students to attend class without a mask is not a good idea as it "would create confusion and disruption in our schools."

That move has prompted Brian Burch of CatholicVote to call for parents to pull their children out of the classrooms. 

Even before the ruling, more and more parents had begun sending students to school without masks, regardless of whether the school was included in the ruling or not. But that is turning the children into social outcasts.

One parent told DuPage Policy Journal that Hinsdale Central High School has moved maskless students into auditoriums where they are kept isolated.

“Any child whose parents want them to wear it, you're free to but don't mandate it across the board,” O’Brien said. “It’s based on the psychological damage that you're doing in these kids.”