Plainfield District 202 One Of 145 school districts involved in School Mask Mandate Case

Plainfield District 202 encouraging students and staff to continue to wear masks but will not enforce the mask mandate. Statement below.

Dear District 202 Families, Staff, and Community

You may be aware of an Illinois court case challenging the legality of the governor’s mandates for masks and vaccinations for students and staff in Illinois schools.  District 202 is one of the 145 school districts involved in this case.

Late Friday afternoon, a Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order to keep Gov. Pritzker from enforcing his mandates.

In light of the judge’s decision, masks are strongly encouraged for those who wish to wear them but will not be required in District 202 schools for students, staff or visitors until further notice.

Masks must still be worn on school and activity buses per the Centers for Disease Control’s order.

Likewise, per the judge’s decision individuals who test positive for COVID-19 will still be excluded from school.

Students and staff who are close contacts of an individual with COVID-19 will no longer be excluded from school unless directed to by the local health department. The district continues to recommend that individuals who are sick should not attend school until their symptoms improve.

Finally, we can no longer require weekly testing for unvaccinated staff.

***Please understand that the judge’s decision is already being appealed. This is just the first step of a longer process that may ultimately end up with the state Supreme Court.

Therefore, the situation could quickly change – which  means our COVID-19 mitigation plans could quickly change, too.

We will continue to seek further legal guidance as this matter works its way through the courts, and communicate as soon as possible with our families, staff, and community.