In light of the recent 2/4/22 Illinois mask and quarantine lawsuit court ruling, many of our parents have asked for a letter they can provide to their child’s school supporting their decision to send their child to school mask-free next week. The D158 Parent Union is happy to provide you with a letter below. Simply copy the text and paste it into your email, or print and send with your child.
________________________
My name is ___ and I have ____ children within your district.
On February 4, 2022, Sangamon County Judge Grischow ruled that the emergency mask mandate and guidance from the Governor, IDPH & ISBE are void. The mask mandates in our schools are illegal. No authority exists under the law to mandate masks in our schools for children or for staff without due process.
Although my child is not listed on the lawsuit, I understand that with this judge’s ruling all children and teachers are afforded due process of the law.
As the judge stated, “Non-named Plaintiffs and School Districts throughout this State may govern themselves accordingly.” We are informing District 158 board members and administration that we expect you to follow the law as declared by the judge.
If District 158 chooses to continue the masks mandates, vaccination requirements for staff, and close-contact quarantine, you are knowingly breaking the law and exposing yourself to significant liability. Parents are putting you on notice and are ready to take immediate legal action, including but not limited to, filing a civil rights violation claim.
Quarantines, test-to-stays, exposures, masking, testing requirements, and excluding children from school for close contact cannot be requested or enforced by our schools without giving that child or staff due process under the law.
Therefore, we expect our D158 board, staff, and parents to simply follow the law. By continuing to enforce any of these policies, the school would be willingly engaging in illegal activity. It was made clear that the mandates by the Governor and these agencies were deemed unlawful for the named students. By design, if they are unlawful for named students, they are unlawful for all students. Any legal reasoning behind your initial mandates has been voided.
We expect that when our children come to school with no masks, they will not be presented with masks to wear or pressured to put one on, nor will they be removed from their regular scheduled day in the same environment as their classmates. We expect their day not to be disrupted and that they will be allowed a proper education through their normal scheduled day. We expect our civil rights to be upheld. Additionally, under the terms of the order, school districts cannot refuse admittance to teachers and students deemed a “close contact” of a probable COVID-19 case without due process of law.
It must be noted that school boards have no authority to enforce mitigations and suspend our children’s due process rights by a show of hands. Children have been subject to the illegal actions of ISBE, IDPH, and this school board for the past two years. It is past time for this board to respect every child’s right to due process before masking, exclusion, and testing can be required.
If you attempt to mask our children or enforce close contact quarantines, in or out of school, understand that we have plans for seeking due process if needed, and we will take legal action.
Signed,
________________________
1) Personalize and email this letter to your child’s principal and every teacher your child comes in contact with at school. (Here’s a link to D158 email contacts.) Print a copy for your child to carry in his or her backpack.
2) Role-play with younger children how to respond if they are ask to mask. Encourage them to be respectful but to say that wearing the mask is no longer legal.
3) Encourage your child to tell you how their day went and report back to you. If your child has a phone, encourage him or her to reach out to you if there are any issues during the day.
4) Please share this email widely with ANY parent in the district that would also like their child to have due process.
And join us at the school board meeting this Thursday night, 2/9 at 7:00pm (650 Dr. John Burkey Drive, Algonquin, IL). It is very important that we show up in numbers in light of this recent decision.
* Even if your child still wishes to wear their mask, but you do not want to unnecessarily quarantine anymore, we encourage you to take part in this and note that you do not want your child quarantined for close contact anymore as it is unlawful. There are benefits to all families in this ruling beyond the mask.
tquagliano@district158.org
kgentry@district158.org
ptroy@district158.org
scratty@district158.org
wgeheren@district158.org
mmaiorino@district158.org
lmelendy@district158.org
superintendent@district158.org
wjohnson@district158.org (Marlowe)
mbelin@district158.org (HHS)
bfaulkner@district158.org (Heineman)
mhappold@district158.org (Martin)
rhenson@district158.org (Chesak)
ahoyou@district158.org (Conley)
siddings@district158.org (Leggee)
pmoan@district158.org (Mackeben)
spauwels@district158.org (ECC)