Dear District 58 Families and Staff,
Over the last five days, District 58 stakeholders and individuals throughout Illinois have witnessed great turmoil and confusion as a result of Judge Grischow’s ruling granting a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against Governor Pritzker’s mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigation measures. Like so many times throughout the pandemic, local communities have been put in a position of trying to sort out a path forward under very challenging circumstances.
As I shared previously, District 58 was not a party to these lawsuits. Given the lack of class certification and ambiguity in the language of the ruling, there is still uncertainty as to the extent to which this ruling impacts District 58. The judge’s TRO already has been appealed, and motions to stay the judge’s TRO have been filed. We await the appellate court’s ruling on the motions to stay and, ultimately, on the substance of the TRO.
Since the Judge issued the ruling, the District and Board have received many messages regarding this topic. We appreciate that the overwhelming majority of stakeholders granted us time to review everything as this is a very complex legal matter. We truly appreciate the feedback that has been received and have done our best to respond to all of the messages. We also appreciate that the overwhelming majority of families did not place their child(ren) in the middle of this issue. On behalf of our staff, we cannot thank you enough as we deeply care about our students and the positive relationships that have been formed.
Since the ruling came out on Friday evening, the District has examined this issue further and consulted with our legal counsel, local school districts, and governmental agencies. Therefore, the Board of Education is scheduling a special meeting for Thursday, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. at the Village Hall to discuss this matter. Please note, this meeting may be changed to O’Neill Middle School if we are unable to livestream it at Village Hall; we will send a follow-up message if the location is changed. The reason the meeting is being conducted on Thursday is that the Open Meetings Act (OMA) in Illinois requires that a board meeting be posted 48 hours in advance. We do not believe this meets the requirements for an emergency meeting as we are not a named defendant in the case.
During the meeting, the public will have the chance to provide comments in accordance with Board Policy 2:230. The Board expects to hear from passionate voices on all sides of this issue. As your superintendent, I am asking everyone to come to the meeting in a respectful manner and that everyone treats one another with respect and dignity. Views that get expressed at the meeting should be done so in a manner that is aligned to Board Policy 8:30. This is a chance for our community to demonstrate that while there may be differences, we are role models for our children as to how to engage in civil discourse.
Please note that a decision from the appellate court regarding a stay, in this case, could come at any moment. Additionally, the appellate court could overturn the lower court decision or state that it does not apply to District 58. That clarity either way will help inform the District’s decision-making in the days ahead. In the event a stay is issued, the meeting will still likely take place. The community has expressed that it would like to be informed of the Board’s plan for mitigations if the mandate is lifted by the Governor or a court of law.
While our team has done our very best to respond to every communication we have received, please know that we will not be able to answer every email or phone call before the meeting. Public comment will likely be extended from 30 minutes to one hour per Board Policy 2:230. This will allow for more individuals to publicly express their views. Given the likelihood that several individuals would like to speak, the Board may have to limit the number of people and the allotted time per comment. Therefore, we highly encourage stakeholders to provide the Board feedback on this form. Board members will read the submissions prior to the meeting. The Board of Education values feedback and thanks you in advance for sharing your view(s). The form responses will be made available to the public so please do not share anything that you do not want others to read. A Board Meeting Preview will be sent out later today, and the agenda will be posted on BoardDocs by 5 p.m.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kevin B. Russell
Superintendent of Schools