CCSD 181 Superintendent Hector Garcia (L) and School Board President Margaret Kleber (R) | CCSD 181
CCSD 181 Superintendent Hector Garcia (L) and School Board President Margaret Kleber (R) | CCSD 181
Community Consolidated School District 181, which serves elementary school students in Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills, told parents Monday night the school would go mask-optional, effective immediately.
The announcement came hours after parents gathered at the district headquarters to protest Superintendent Hector Garcia's decision to cancel school on Monday.
"We have determined to temporarily suspend enforcement of the mask mandate and exclusion for asymptomatic close contacts for all district students," wrote Superintendent Hector Garcia.
At an emergency District 181 Board of Education meeting Monday night, Garcia claimed "the Board was informed of the legal interpretation of and guidance related to the Feb. 4 Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that temporarily halts the governor's executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools."
On Friday night, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow declared Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's blanket state emergency school rules on masks and tests through the Illinois Department of Public Health "null and void." She said the governor and his agencies have been mandating rules upon students illegally.
“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," she wrote.
CCSD 81 has 3,606 students in nine schools, including Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills Middle Schools, Elm, Madison, Monroe, Oak, and The Lane elementary schools in Hinsdale and Walker and Prospect elementary schools in Clarendon Hills.
School board members include Margaret Kleber of Hinsdale, Sinead Duffy of Clarendon Hills, Bill Cotter of Hinsdale, Sheetal Rao of Clarendon Hills, Sarah Jakobsen of Clarendon Hills, Grace Shin of Hinsdale and Michael Martin of Hinsdale.
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