Elmhurst Private School Alone In Suburbs With Mask Decision

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 County
• Beecher City CUSD 20, Effingham County
• Benton CCSD 47, Franklin County
• Brimfield CUSD 309, Peoria County
• Carlyle CUSD 1, Clinton County
• Central CUSD 3, Adams County
• Durand CUSD 322, Winnebago County
• Edwards County CUSD 1, Edwards County
• Ewing Northern CCSD 115, Franklin County
• Field CCSD 3, Jefferson County
• Flanagan-Cornell 74, Livingston County
• La Harpe CSD 347, Hancock County
• Meridian CUSD 15, Macon County
• North Clay CUSD 25, Clay County
• North Wayne CUSD 200, Wayne County
• Patoka CUSD 100, Marion County
• Red Bud CUSD 132, Randolph County
• Spoon River Valley CUSD 4, Fulton County
• Warsaw CUSD 316, Hancock County
• Wayne City CUSD 100, Wayne County
• West Central CUSD 235, Henderson County