District 46 Seeks Parents' Input On Mask Requirements

GRAYSLAKE, IL — Community Consolidated School District 46 is seeking parents' input on whether to require all students to wear masks during the upcoming school year.

The elementary school district requested all parents fill out a survey by Monday that asks for their preference regarding masks from these choices:

• Masks should be universally required, regardless of vaccination status.
• At the start of the school year, masks should be universally required, regardless of vaccination status. The school district should consider changing the plan within the first two months of the school year after monitoring various mitigation factors.
• Mask should be optional only for individuals who are fully vaccinated.
• At the start of the school year, masks should be optional only for individuals who are fully vaccinated. The school district should consider changing the plan to optional for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, within the first two months of the school year after monitoring various mitigation factors.
• Masks should be optional for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status.

In a letter to parents, CCSD46 Superintendent Lynn Glickman said school district officials are looking for parents input.

"Based on the community needs, school administrators may opt to make mask use universally required in the school," Glickman wrote. The survey sent out to parents comes on the heels of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was also adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Public Health, which recommends masking for unvaccinated individuals as a key strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

School districts can make local decisions related to masks and other mitigation measures. The CDC recommends local school districts only remove prevention strategies one at a time based on local conditions and then monitor closely for an uptick in coronavirus cases.

Some of the reasons the CDC outlines for requiring masks include:

• Having a student population that is not yet eligible for vaccination (schools with students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade).
• Increasing or substantial or high COVID-19 transmission within the school or their surrounding community.
• Increasing community transmission of a variant that is spread more easily among children and adolescents or is resulting in more severe illness from COVID-19 among children and adolescents.
• Lacking a system to monitor the vaccine status of students and/or teachers and staff.
• Difficulty monitoring or enforcing mask policies that are not universal.
• Responding to community input that many teachers, staff, parents, or students would not participate in in-person learning if mask use was not universal.

More information, including the full survey, can be found on the CCSD 46 website.