Chicago City Wire

The head of Chicago Public Schools is being pulled into court for a contempt of court complaint.

Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow called out CPS CEO Pedro Martinez by name to answer on the school district’s behalf. 

"It is ordered that Mr. Pedro Martinez, as agent for the City of Chicago School District #299, and the Board of Education of City of Chicago School District #299, shall personally appear before this court and show cause as to why the defendants should not be held in contempt for failure to abide by and comply with this Court's prior order of February 04, 2022," Grischow’s Feb. 14 order reads.  

Attorney Tom DeVore previously threatened CPS for not obeying a restraining order preventing the district from treating students who unmask differently from those who continue to mask.

CPS was one of 145 defendant school districts sued by parents seeking to end masking.

Grischow declared Pritzker's blanket state of 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.

Since Grischow’s ruling, hundreds of school districts have decided to go mask optional. 

Districts that have maintained masking have been subject to protests by parents who are seeking a return to normalcy after two years of protocols. 

Many parents have taken to sending kids to school who then unmask while inside. 

Those students have been rounded up in many areas and isolated from others. 

CPS is the third-largest school district in the country, responsible for 347,000 children.

Martinez makes a base salary of $340,000 per year.