Rockford Sun

Freeport School District 145 officials have implemented a mask-optional system for its more than 3,700 students after an appellate court judge rendered Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s school mask mandate unconstitutional.

“At a special meeting on February 9, the Board of Education of Freeport School District 145 voted that ‘if the Illinois Appellate Court rules that the Governor’s orders and the rules of the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education are unenforceable, the District will make optional the wearing of face coverings in schools,” school officials posted on Facebook. “Based on the above action taken by the Board of Education, effective immediately the wearing of face masks is optional for Freeport School District staff and students.”

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow rendered her ruling earlier this month, issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) as part of a 30-page ruling that also established that state law designates the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) as the “supreme authority” in matters of quarantine and isolation, not the governor. The judge asserted that IDPH must adhere to state law in making sure due process standards are upheld in every instance.

Even as the governor has gone public with his plans to lift the general statewide mask mandate by the end of February, he has offered far fewer details about the one impacting Illinois schools.

Though more than 550 school districts across the state have now moved to go fully mask-optional, Pritzker is appealing judge’s ruling, prompting Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) to accuse the governor of trying to subvert the state’s court system to keep his policy standards in place.

Grischow pointed out that many of those opposed to Pritzker's mandates haven’t always had the benefit of due process in making their arguments.

“The arbitrary method as to contact tracing and masking in general continue to raise fair questions as to the legality of the Executive Orders in light of violations of healthy children’s substantive due process rights,” she wrote. “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.”

In separate cases, the judge has also denied motions for there to be class status, meaning the TRO would only impact the plaintiffs and the school districts that are part of the suit. Grischow has  also ordered Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez to appear before the court to answer a contempt of court complaint on the 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.

 As lawsuits have made their way through the court system, attorney Tom DeVore has frequently threatened to sue CPS for not obeying a restraining order preventing the district from treating students who unmask differently from those who continue to mask.

Within 24-hours of Grischow making her decision public, the DuPage Policy Journal reported Hinsdale Central High School officials were captured on video guiding students who refused to wear masks into an isolated area of the school. DeVore has now vowed to start pursuing criminal complaints for contempt of court against school officials who abuse the rights of plaintiffs that are part of the suit.

“If I can confirm that the Hinsdale School District or any school district is isolating children that are plaintiffs in this case, and I know that to be true, I'm going to ask the judge, 'Put somebody in the county jail' as soon as I have the first available opportunity,” he said. “That's what I'm going to try to do because they cannot do that.”