On Friday afternoon, a Sangamon County judge ordered a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Governor Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois State Board of Education, and more than 140 school districts that were named in a lawsuit. As I have communicated before, the Arcola School District was not one of those districts.
A motion has been filed for an emergency stay to be put in place this weekend while the decision is being appealed, and the Governor has indicated that the decision will be appealed. This issue is now being processed through the courts. If the case is appealed on Monday which is likely, the appellate court must rule on the case by February 16 at the latest.
At this point, the ruling in this case does NOT apply directly to the Arcola School District. As a result, we plan to continue with our current plan and protocols. That means, universal masking will still be required at the Arcola School District until we have a more clear answer on how the appellate court ruling will impact our district.
Our school community has done an amazing job of working together to navigate the pandemic over the past two years. We have all tried to make thoughtful decisions that allowed our school to stay in school while also maintaining a safe environment for everyone.
The district does have a school board meeting this Wednesday, February 9 at 7:00 pm in the junior high gymnasium and will be discussing the district plan, protocols, and mitigation strategies at that time.
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