The CCSD 89 Board of Education will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, February 19, at Glen Crest Middle School, 725 Sheehan Avenue, Glen Ellyn. At the meeting, the Board will consider whether to remove some mitigation strategies in CCSD 89 schools, including masks.
Board of Education meetings are open to the public and include time for public comment. During public comment, each speaker is limited to three minutes.
The district will provide a live broadcast of the meeting. Prior to the meeting, the link will be posted here: www.ccsd89.org/domain/3870
Masks will be required for everyone who attends the meeting. The Board may recess or move to an online format if audience members do not follow mitigation practices, including wearing a mask that covers your nose and mouth.
Health, operational considerations
Currently, student and community cases are significantly lower than the January peak. Student absences due to COVID-19 were at less than 1 percent this week. Also, COVID-19 vaccines are widely available for CCSD 89 students that are five or older. (CCSD 89 preschool includes students who are not yet 5 years old.)
As mentioned in the February 6 message to families, the district has never had a goal of keeping all mitigation strategies in place indefinitely. However, there are health, legal, and operational factors that must be considered.
Public health officials have advised the district that overlapping mitigation strategies – masks, distancing, sanitizing – can help reduce the spread in our schools. To this point, the district has not seen evidence of spread in CCSD 89 classrooms, and classrooms have remained open for in-person learning. The Board will consider options for removing some mitigation measures when certain criteria are met.
Ongoing litigation
The Board will also hear more information about multiple legal issues surrounding mitigation practices. Of course, the district has a responsibility to follow the advice of attorneys in order to avoid legal exposure.
On February 4, a Sangamon County judge issued a ruling about mandatory masks that applied to the districts named in two lawsuits. CCSD 89 was not named in those lawsuits and the lawsuits were not certified as a class action. There is also a mandate from the state that may require masks in schools through at least mid-March. Additionally, in August 2021 – prior to the governor’s mandate - the Board of Education voted to make masks mandatory in CCSD 89 schools.
The Sangamon County case is currently being appealed; there may be an appellate ruling as soon as Wednesday, February 16, that could affect all schools’ mitigation strategies. If that ruling has an impact on the next day’s school conditions, the district will send a communication as soon as possible. Please understand that the district has no control over when these rulings happen and it often takes legal review to understand the full impact.
Prior to the Sangamon County ruling, the district has been working with health and legal experts on local criteria that could guide when mitigation strategies can be safely rolled back or removed. If any layers of mitigation are removed, there is not an option for remote learning.
Community Consolidated School District 89 would like to thank everyone who has respectfully asked questions or shared their thoughts. We look forward to continuing this conversation.
