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Written by Kelly Jo Ross - Breese Journal Reporter
Wesclin parents sparred with school board members over the masking policy at Wesclin Community Unit School District #3 at their regular school board meeting Monday night.
Parents presented to the board a recent court ruling where the power to quarantine students was limited to the health department, and not the schools, and that masks were, in fact, a type of quarantine.
New Baden parent Krystal Schmitt stated at the Sept. 20 school board meeting that as Wesclin Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw and the school board continuously discusses the Return to Learn Plan, the parent group has since gained more information on schools in the area and how they are proceeding with COVID-19 recommendations.
Schmitt said that there have been several court cases with rulings against the school district, noting several recent lawsuits against Carlyle, Hillsboro and Teutopolis schools.
She gave a brief example of attorney Tom DeVore representing a parent going against the Carlyle School District. In the suit, the power to quarantine was limited to the health department, not the school, and masks were considered a type of quarantine.
DeVore argued successfully that a mask is a device intended, allegedly, to limit disease transmission, and a Clinton County judge then issued a temporary restraining order against the school district regarding mask mandates, and the Illinois State Board of Education has no legal authority to make any student in the school district wear any mask under the law. The lawsuit was filed for two students in the district, but the order applies to every student in the Carlyle School District.
The Wesclin parent group requested that the board vote to remove all wording of Wesclin School District mandating quarantines as defined legally in the Illinois Administrative Code, including mandatory masking, testing, and quarantine.
“We propose the following amendment to the Return to Learn plan in accordance with the law which limits authority to place such quarantines to the local health department,” Schmitt said, adding that the precedence has been set by the court ruling by the judge.
“We can work together tonight to follow the law, or we can follow suit with our legal counsel, Tom DeVore, and let the courts decide,” she said.
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