Wilmette School District 39 officials say the district is preparing to ease COVID-19 pandemic mitigations, but in the meantime, some parents want to see a shift to mask-wearing being optional.
During a nearly four-hourlong Committee of the Whole school board meeting Monday, board members reviewed a proposal presented by Superintendent Kari Cremascoli on potential ways to change the COVID-19 mitigation measures currently in place at the district. Feb. 14
The proposal follows a temporary restraining order issued by a Sangamon County judge earlier this month against the state’s mask mandate for schools. However, SD39 was not named in that lawsuit and currently continues to require students, faculty and staff wear masks in school buildings.
“The ruling has no direct legal impact on our district and mandated COVID-19 mitigation measures still apply,” Cremascoli and board President Amy Poehling co-wrote in a letter posted on the school board’s website. “Nonetheless, we have continued our work in reviewing our COVID-19 mitigation strategies and developing an “off ramp” plan for when local control in these decisions is granted.”
School board attorney Dana Crumley told the board that since the temporary restraining order was not applicable to SD39, the district cannot use the order to make decisions at this time.
While it remains unknown when the district could possibly change the mask-wearing policy, the administration’s proposal showcased how mask-optional would work at the district’s six schools.
“The reality is a mask-optional environment is coming,” Cremascoli said. “Mask-optional schools are, thankfully, on the horizon as we continue to make progress against the pandemic. We are all eager for this change to be possible and we all look forward to a time when wearing a mask can be optional at all settings, including our schools.”
Under a mask-optional environment, the administration would immediately consider changes to contact tracing and close contact notification of positive COVID-19 cases, among other things.
“Currently we contact trace based on (Illinois Department of Public Health) guidance of distancing of 3 feet provided that everyone in the environment is wearing a mask,” Cremascoli said. “If we go to a mask-optional environment, distancing is supposed to be 6 feet in order for contact tracing.”
Cremascoli said 6 feet of social distancing is not possible within a classroom, so the district would not do contact tracing within the classroom in a mask-optional setting.
Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 would still require a 10-day isolation period in a mask-optional scenario, officials explained. The school district may also provide additional KN95 masks for students and staff.
One board member talked about his interest in children not having to wear masks.
“A child in school with a mask on is not as good as a child in school without a mask on,” board member Frank Panciza said.
At the meeting, which was held in-person for members but also livestreamed, parent Tim Little said he was speaking on behalf of his children.
“Give them their freedom back,” he said. “Let them choose whether or not to wear a mask.”
Earlier in the day, a group of parents held a demonstration outside Wilmette Village Hall advocating for a change to the current mask-wearing policy. The demonstration’s organizer, Chris Beer, said she was grateful for the administration’s efforts.
“However, I am concerned about the timing of discontinuation of the mask required policy and I would like a clear definition of what might trigger a reversal of a mask-optional setting,” Beer said.
Cremascoli said there would now be a review period where feedback would be gathered from community stakeholders in advance of the board taking formal action Feb. 22 meeting.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer.
