'They're too young right now': Group of Dist. 303 parents, students rally against mask mandate

St. Charles Unit District 303 parent Brittany Fuller believes she should have a say over whether her young children wear masks when they go back to school.

Holding up signs that said "Unmask Our Children" and "No Masks! Let Us Breathe," Fuller was among a group of District 303 parents and children on Monday protesting the district's decision to abide by Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive order mandating that masks be worn indoors by all teachers, staffers, students and visitors regardless of vaccination status.

"They're too young right now," Fuller said. "Right now is this critical time for them to express themselves. We were just talking today about how they express things to their teachers that they wouldn't express to us. They have to see their teachers' faces and the teachers have to see their faces."

Before the governor's executive order, school board members had voted unanimously to make masks optional for the new school year, which begins Wednesday. School board members took that vote before new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask indoors, including teachers, staff members, students and visitors regardless of vaccination status.

The CDC announced the new guidance to prevent further spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.

Fuller wants the school board to return to making masks optional.

"We just want an option," she said.

Monday's rally took place before a school board meeting that was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Those who were planning to attend the meeting were directed to take shelter in Haines Center because of reported tornadoes in the area.

The school board meeting was canceled and will be rescheduled.

School board members have heard from people on both sides of the issue. Last month, Katherine Brito, who is vice president of the Kane County Medical Society's board of directors and a doctor at the Geneva Eye Clinic, pleaded with board members to reconsider their decision to make masks optional during the school year.

"I'm astounded, frankly terrified that we're even contemplating sending our kids inside unvaccinated and unmasked this coming year," Brito said. "I don't treat COVID patients, but I care a lot about children and I care for a lot of children, including those who are immunocompromised. I wear a mask to protect myself but also to protect those who are vulnerable. And the most vulnerable group is the unvaccinated."

She noted at that time that the number of COVID-19 cases was rising as a result of the more transmissible delta variant.

"We must take action now to prevent a school outbreak that leads to temporary closure, or God forbid, the death of a child," Brito said.