Lincolnwood Teachers Deserve a Voice

Lincolnwood Teachers Deserve a Voice

A recent Illinois court case in Sangamon County Circuit Court, known as the DeVore case, has placed a temporary restraining order (TRO) on mask wearing for several school districts across the state. Lincolnwood School District 74 is not one of the districts involved in the lawsuit.

Despite this, the school district is aggressively switching the mask policy from “masks are required” to “masks are recommended” per their communication to our staff and our school families. The district claims that due to this court ruling, our existing policy must change. THIS IS INACCURATE. Only those directly named in the lawsuit are covered by this judge’s order since it was not a class action suit. In fact, the majority of our surrounding school districts have already communicated with their respective staff and families that they will be keeping their mask requirements, including our feeder high school, Niles West.

Furthermore, the district is required to bargain with the Lincolnwood Teachers Association (LTA) prior to any changes implemented in our school and yet the LTA was ignored, even after being assured that the LTA would be part of any discussion for any changes, just a few days ago. The legal advice the district has received is incorrect; the TRO does not apply to District 74. So the district has now chosen to ignore the guidelines from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health), and CCDPH (Cook County Department of Public Health) that immediately puts students and staff in an unsafe and hazardous situation. We have bargained over the last two years to put mitigation strategies in place, and mask wearing as a central safety precaution. THIS IS NOW BEING IGNORED.

District administration often tells staff to take care of our mental health. How is the exclusion of our teachers’ voices during a pandemic helpful for our mental health?

The teachers in Lincolnwood have worked tirelessly to support our students and at the same time to keep the schools open and safe. How is the exclusion of our teachers' voices during a pandemic helpful for our students?

We were one of the few school districts in the state to be open for in-person learning for the entirety of last year. We have followed the plans of the district even when we felt there were better courses of action over the past two years of this pandemic. How is the exclusion of our teachers' voices during a pandemic helpful for our community?

Please help us in this moment when District 74 has refused to listen. Masks should be REQUIRED, not “recommended.”

Stacy Panoutsos and Travis DuPriest

Co-Presidents, Lincolnwood Teachers Association