Elmhurst Private School Alone In Suburbs With Mask Decision

Elmhurst IL

19 August, 2021

8:39 AM

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ELMHURST, IL — Twenty-one school districts and two private schools were deemed by the state to be out of compliance with its mask mandate for all schools, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. Just one was in the Chicago suburbs — Timothy Christian Schools in Elmhurst. The agency said it dealt with Timothy Christian before any other school. Last week, the school's superintendent announced it was going mask optional. Within hours, the state pulled its recognition of Timothy, meaning it could not take part in Illinois High School Association athletics. The school quickly reversed itself and was reinstated. All the other schools are downstate — an area that is considered more conservative than Chicago and the suburbs. Besides Timothy, only Unity Christian School in Williamson County later indicated it would comply with the state's order, according to state board documents. The state says Unity's recognition will be restored once it receives verification. The 21 school districts are out of a total of about 850 across Illinois. Most of the districts are tiny and thus make up a small fraction of the state's overall enrollment. In an email to Patch, Jackie Matthews, the state board's spokeswoman, said her agency has reduced the recognition status for the school districts to "on probation." "These districts confirmed that they were not complying with the universal indoor masking requirement," Matthews said. "These districts now have the opportunity to meet with ISBE and to submit a corrective action plan to address the deficiencies that are presenting a danger to students and staff." If they do not submit "approvable" plans, she said, they will lose recognition status, meaning a total loss of access to state money and the inability to take part in school association sports. "We will continue to act swiftly with both nonpublic and public schools that have confirmed they are not implementing universal indoor masking as required by Executive Order 2021-18," Matthews said. "ISBE will not compromise students' health and safety. Masking is a safe, easy, and effective way to ensure all students can attend school in-person this fall, where they can learn and grow to their fullest potential." Here are the school districts that were considered out of compliance as of Monday: Abingdon-Avon CUSD 276, Knox CountyBeecher City CUSD 20, Effingham CountyBenton CCSD 47, Franklin CountyBrimfield CUSD 309, Peoria CountyCarlyle CUSD 1, Clinton CountyCentral CUSD 3, Adams CountyDurand CUSD 322, Winnebago CountyEdwards County CUSD 1, Edwards CountyEwing Northern CCSD 115, Franklin CountyField CCSD 3, Jefferson CountyFlanagan-Cornell 74, Livingston CountyLa Harpe CSD 347, Hancock CountyMeridian CUSD 15, Macon CountyNorth Clay CUSD 25, Clay CountyNorth Wayne CUSD 200, Wayne CountyPatoka CUSD 100, Marion CountyRed Bud CUSD 132, Randolph CountySpoon River Valley CUSD 4, Fulton CountyWarsaw CUSD 316, Hancock CountyWayne City CUSD 100, Wayne CountyWest Central CUSD 235, Henderson County