Dupage Policy Journal

AWAKE Illinois officials are urging parents across the state who don’t believe their child should be forced to wear a mask to submit forms to their school or district outlining why they should be exempt from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s new statewide mandate for all public and private school students.

The organization's site breaks down step by step how parents should communicate with schools and includes a premade form for them to use. 

“We saw it coming, but we train in the off season,” the group posted on Twitter. “AWAKE parents documented their rights to schools over the summer. They are prepared and they are not alone. The time is now and we will never back down.”

Pritzker’s new order also requires all teachers and staff to wear masks regardless of vaccination status, NBC5 Chicago reported, and that all state employees working at congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities and veterans' homes, be vaccinated by no later than Oct. 4.

As criticism of the mandate has mounted, Pritzker has remained steadfast, countering that both the Illinois Department of Public Health and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now both also recommending masking indoors at K-12 schools.

Still, AWAKE officials warn that they plan to be heard on the issue going forward.

“Anyone who violates our rights will meet us in court,” the group added.

In the end, Pritzker said he felt he had little choice but to impose the new rules given how many parents seemed prepared to flout updated CDC guidelines. In early August, three young children from Williamson County were suspended on the first day of school for not wearing masks.

"As your governor, it's my duty to say that we must all take immediate and urgent action to slow the spread of the delta variant," he said. "People are dying who don't have to die."