On Feb. 17, an Illinois appellate court struck down Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appeal on school mask mandates, leaving the matter up to local school districts. While Pritzker intends to bring the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court, the decision will be left up to OPRF for the time being.

Superintendent Greg Johnson wrote a Feb. 18 statement to the OPRF community regarding the matter. “As a result of this ruling, we’re reviewing the plans we currently have in place and discussing the criteria that will determine when mitigations may be eased or removed,” Johnson wrote. “We want to be thorough and thoughtful during this review process, as our layered mitigations have proven critical in allowing us to safely offer in-person instruction throughout this school year.”

“At this point, I can confirm that (the) administrative team is open to the conversation of removing masks, but I’m not aware of anyone on our team who is strongly pushing to change our current protocols immediately,” Johnson told Trapeze.

While some districts across the state have gone mask-optional, others such as Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have kept the requirement.

The ruling has spurred protests on both sides of the issue.

“I can’t say that any concerns with other districts have influenced our thinking,” Johnson says. “This community has been consistently supportive of our masking requirements and that’s something I think we all should be grateful for. We are aware of what other districts are doing, of course, and the fact that over 700 districts in the state have gone to mask optional at this point is an important data point for us to consider.”

Johnson says the administration is also looking at elementary school Districts 90 and 97, metrics, and medical opinions in their decision making.

“Until the time when a decision regarding mitigations is reached, we expect all students, employees, and visitors to continue to comply with our existing measures,” Johnson wrote in the Feb. 18 statement. “Our top priority remains the health and safety of our students, staff, and community. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate these uncertain times.”