Make Masks Optional In NSSD-112, Superintendent Suggests

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The superintendent of North Shore School District 112 recommended the 10-school district end its indoor mask mandate when student's return from President's Day break on Wednesday.

Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld said he would present his recommendation to the District 112 board at Tuesday night's meeting and asked families to discuss the their decision ahead of the potential transition.

Lubelfeld first announced his recommendation Wednesday afternoon, about 36 hours before Friday's early morning appellate court ruling dismissing the Pritzker administration's appeal of a temporary restraining order voiding some of the governor's emergency rules.

If the district pivots to a "mask-optional" environment next week, he said, it will be up to parents and guardians of the district's nearly 3,700 students whether they should remain masked indoors. Masks would also be optional for district employees.

"This is about family choice, this is about your choice," he said in a video message Friday afternoon. "Please remind your child that their teachers will support all decisions and all students."

The superintendent also asked parents to remind their children to be respectful of their classmates and not to peer pressure others to wear a mask or not.

"While the district still recommends masks be worn as part of the overall layers of mitigation, it's a personal choice and we're pivoting toward that," Lubelfeld said. "This is not an opportunity to utilize masking as a way to point out differences in others and pass judgment."

Lubelfeld cited the declining number of cases and positivity rate in the district, the success of layers of mitigation so far, the nullification of the emergency rules that established the mandate, a high vaccination rate in the district and "overarching educational reasons."

More than 500 school districts in Illinois have shifted to a mask-optional environment. Lubelfeld said Deerfield Public Schools District 109 is notifying parents it plans to go optional Wednesday, and Bannockburn School District 106 had already ended its mask requirement.

Township High School District 113 paused enforcement of its mandate Friday but has not shifted to a mask-optional environment, according to its superintendent.

Lubelfeld said further information about his recommendation would be released Friday afternoon in materials posted along with the agenda to Tuesday's board meeting.

Related: District 113 Pauses Mask Mandate, Waiting To Hear From Attorneys