The Danville District 118 School Board has officially approved plans for opening the new school year – including the wearing of masks.
But board members heard some objections to Governor JB Pritzker’s announcement earlier in the day making the mask requirement mandatory.
Chris Hereen (shown above) was one of the parents who spoke out during the school board’s special meeting…
{AUDIO: ‘’I don’t believe that Governor Pritzker can mandate us to wear masks. Or kids to wear masks, when I feel like I know what’s best for my children and my grandchildren.’’}
(A sign in a car outside the school board meeting.)
Kaitlyn Morman noted she is a nurse who has been working during the pandemic before voicing her objection to the masks….
{AUDIO: ‘’By mandating that our children wear masks for six-plus hours a day, no exceptions, you are discriminating against those other serious health concerns that put wearing a mask and restricting a child’s breathing at extreme risk. Not to mention the social and emotional consequences of children who are in crucial developmental ages. Have we ever stopped to consider how this will affect them for years to come?’’}
All students, staff, and visitors to Danville District 118 schools will be required to wear masks – regardless of their vaccination status.
Masks will also be required for transportation purposes, outdoor play, recess, physical education, sports, and extra-curricular activities which occur outdoors and involve sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated.
School Board member Johnnie Carey said it was thought that the board would be ‘’peeling back part of the onion’’ – the restrictions that were announced earlier. But she added when you are given a mandate there’s not much you can do.
Another board member, Shannon Schroeder, cautioned that she and other board members could possibly be sued if they failed to follow the Governor’s mandates. She was the only board member who voted ‘no’.
School Board president, Dr. Randal Ashton, expects the new guidelines will be regularly amended. He added they probably will not look the same in two weeks.
