Hinsdale D-86's Mask Foes Make Views Known

HINSDALE, IL — A few weeks ago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order mandating everyone in all schools wear face masks, but some are suggesting school boards push back. The Hinsdale High School District 86 board is among those getting such pressure.

At last Thursday's meeting, members heard from mask opponents.

"I just feel like it's ridiculous to put kids in masks for eight hours. Even if they wear them over their noses, they are still touching their faces. I don't feel like they're effective," resident Lisa Milligan said.

Milligan said the community expects the board to stand up for students.

"Your voices and positions hold power, and I urge you to band together with your peers and push back on the mask mandate," she said. "Our kids have suffered. Our kids have sacrificed. And they need us to acknowledge that."

Another resident, Donna DeCaigny, called a mask a "flimsy piece of fabric."

"This is child abuse to put these on kids every day all day long," DeCaigny said. "It needs to end, and you guys need to stand up for our kids and fight for them."

The audience applauded.

The Illinois Board of Education is taking action against schools that defy the mask mandate. Officials say schools in violation can lose state money and be barred from participating in Illinois High School Association athletics.

Also, during the board's public input, state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, an Elmhurst Republican, criticized Pritzker's executive order on masks and other pandemic-related measures. She suggested the board insist on its independence, but did not outright encourage defiance of the mask mandate.

She said Pritzker was violating civil liberties and personal health decisions with his executive orders on the pandemic.

"I would ask for you to stand for your independence, to stand up for your parents and for your students to make sure that you are doing your own independent findings about what your students need and not blindly rely on a bureaucracy that frankly doesn't know what your local situation is like," the lawmaker said.

She urged the board to set an example for students and create a "culture of courage, of calm and to not emulate the governor's culture that he has been creating, which is anxiety, disruption and fear."

She received the audience's applause. The board did not comment.