November 10, 2024
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La Salle-Peru High rescinds suspensions; will send students home for refusing to wear masks

L-P had 16 students Monday, 9 Tuesday, 18 Wednesday refuse to wear masks

By Derek Barichello
The La Salle-Peru High School Board called an emergency meeting Sunday to re-examine its COVID-19 policy. Since it was not named in the lawsuit, the board decided to keep its protocols in place, which requires students and staff to wear masks.

Moving forward, La Salle-Peru High School will send students refusing to wear a mask home and mark them as unexcused absences.

Moving forward, La Salle-Peru High School will send students refusing to wear a mask home and mark them as unexcused absences.

The high school’s board decided Sunday to continue with following the state’s rules on mask wearing, after last week’s restraining order from Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow, which blocked nearly 170 school districts named in Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore’s lawsuit from enforcing mask requirements, among other items.

L-P was not named in the litigation. The majority of school districts in La Salle County have followed the same path as L-P, in keeping with the state’s rules.

For the past two days, Superintendent Steven Wrobleski said the school has been assigning students refusing to wear a mask in the auditorium with computer access to their classes. Wrobleski said the school doesn’t have the human resources available to supervise students in the auditorium.

“This was a temporary decision until the administration was able to determine the best course of action to manage this situation,” Wrobleski said.

The school district suspended 16 students Monday — the first day of classes after the Sangamon County ruling — who refused to wear masks. He said those suspensions and social probations have been rescinded.

“I believed they were ultimately too harsh as an immediate punishment,” Wrobleski said. “Over the past two days the administration met to process and determine the most appropriate disciplinary consequence for students refusing to wear a mask.”

Students will not be granted access to Google Meets when they are sent home after refusing to wear a mask. Consequences will follow the handbook regarding procedures for unexcused absences (as they add up for a student).

After the 16 students refused to wear a mask Monday, Wrobleski said nine chose not to wear one Tuesday and 18 Wednesday out of an enrollment of 1,250.

“The district recognizes that there is significant disagreement over last Friday’s court ruling as well as the announcement by the governor (Wednesday),” Wrobleski said, making reference to Gov. JB Pritzker’s announcement to maintain mask wearing in all schools. “All we are asking is everyone to be patient and observe our current protocols until the courts finalize the appeal and/or the governor provides more specific details on the mask roll back for schools.”

Wrobleski said he will continue to provide updates to the L-P community on its mask protocols and how the school is using its federal COVID money.

“I’ve read significant misinformation on social media, with some claiming that L-P is maintaining our COVID Mitigation Protocols in order to keep the $3.2 million we’re receiving in federal monies,” Wrobleski said. “I will say here that this information is false.”