State

State Supreme Court wipes away mask TRO; Pritzker removing school mask mandate anyway

Mask mandate indoors and in schools will come off Monday in Illinois

By John Sahly
Parents who are in favor of continuing to require masks in schools rallied outside Community Unit School District 200 headquarters in Wheaton on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. The rally was organized by the group M.A.S.K.S., which stands for Make All School Kids Safe.

FILE PHOTO: Parents who are in favor of continuing to require masks in schools rallied outside Community Unit School District 200 headquarters in Wheaton on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. The rally was organized by the group M.A.S.K.S., which stands for Make All School Kids Safe. (Sandy Bressner - sbressner@shawmedia.com)

The Illinois State Supreme Court on Friday lifted the temporary restraining order against Gov. JB Pritzker’s school mask mandate granted earlier this month by Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow.

But that doesn’t mean the mask mandate in schools is back on, Pritzker said Friday. Instead, the school mask mandate will fall off with the indoor state mask mandate Monday, Pritzker announced after the court’s decision.

Hundreds of districts across the state already had gone to mask-optional policies since the temporary restraining order. The Illinois Department of Public Health tried to implement an emergency rule after Grischow’s temporary restraining order, but the Joint Committee on Administrative rules voted, 9-0, with two members voting “present,” on Feb. 15 to object to the rules and suspend them from going into effect.

“I’m gratified that the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s restraining order, meaning that if a school mask mandate needs to go into effect in the future, we continue to have that authority,” Pritzker said in a statement.

“I’m also extremely pleased to say that because the CDC has recommended that masks are needed only in areas of high transmission, the state of Illinois will move forward to remove our school mask mandate, effective Monday. We will recommend that all school districts follow CDC guidance and will update our existing guidance in the coming days.”

The CDC announced Friday that most Americans live in places where healthy people, including students in schools, can safely take a break from wearing masks.

The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals. Those are the people who can stop wearing masks, the agency said.

The CDC on Friday also removed its mask requirement for people using public and private school vans and buses.

The agency still is advising that people, including schoolchildren, wear masks where the risk of COVID-19 is high. That’s the situation in about 37% of U.S. counties, where about 28% of Americans reside.

Most counties in northern Illinois fell into the low category, with only La Salle, Carroll, Putnam and Bureau counties in the medium-risk category.

IllinoisMasksJB Pritzker
John Sahly

John Sahly

John Sahly is the digital editor for the Shaw Local News Network. He has been with Shaw Media since 2008, previously serving as the Northwest Herald's digital editor, and the Daily Chronicle sports editor and sports reporter.