North Cook News

In response to a Sangamon County judge's ruling that Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statewide student mask requirement is illegal, Arlington Heights District 25 is going mask-optional, effective immediately.

"District 25 will be in a mask recommended environment - at least during the Temporary Restraining Order time period," wrote CSD 17 Superintendent Lori D. Bein, in a note to parents Saturday. "We do highly recommend staff and students wear masks in alignment with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), but masks are optional."

Bein said District 25 will no longer be contact tracing alleged close contacts and staff members who haven't taken a COVID-19 jab will no longer be required to test weekly.

In a 30-page ruling Friday night, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow declared 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.

Also on Saturday, Arlington Heights High School District 214 announced it would be mask-optional. The schools superintendent of the Chicago Archdiocese, however, said all Catholic schools in North and Northwest Cook County will still require masks as he will not recognize Judge Grischow's order.

A University of Illinois at Chicago study found that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles.. and offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation."

Arlington Heights School District 25 has 5,262 students in nine schools, grades Pre-kindergarten through eight. They include South Middle School and Thomas Middle Schools and Dryden, Greenbrier, Ivy Hill, Olive-Mary State, Patton, Westgate and Windsor Elementary Schools in Arlington Heights.