Costly fight, failed policy

At the Oct. 21, District 211 Board of Education meeting, the board was served with a class-action lawsuit demanding (among other things) that student mask wearing become optional. At the previous meeting, some of the same anti-mask individuals now presenting this lawsuit urged the district to adopt "mask optional" rules similar to those currently being used in Michigan.

Some facts about the Michigan-type mask policy that they are suing to impose on us:

1) On Oct. 22, Michigan's COVID positivity rate was 10.5% while Illinois' rate was 1.9% on the same date - over a 500% difference.

2) On Oct. 8, The Detroit Free Press reported; "Coronavirus cases in K-12 schools accounted for 56% of all known new outbreaks statewide last week in Michigan - more than in every other setting in the state." This "masks optional" policy is an obvious failure. Yet, now we all have to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees to defend against a lawsuit that, if successful, would raise the threat to the lives of our family and friends in the community.

Why? Clearly, the far-right GOP operatives behind this well-funded legal effort care nothing about our safety during the greatest public health crisis in a century. Their main goal remains to continually be churning a local political base that pushes right-wing radicalism over reason, no matter what the cost is to our health and to our pocketbooks.

Hopefully, our community will stay strong in its support of the District 211 board and push back against this reckless assault on our safety.

Jerry Freda

Inverness