Some District 303 parents continue to rally against mask mandate

A group of St. Charles Unit District 303 parents on Monday again protested the district's decision to abide by Gov. JB Pritzker's executive order mandating that masks be worn indoors in schools regardless of vaccination status.

For the second straight week, they made their feelings known by holding up signs that read "Unmask Our Children" and "End The Child Abuse" as part of a rally before a school board committee meeting and special school board meeting.

They also rallied ahead of a board meeting last week that had to be rescheduled until Monday because of reported tornadoes in the area. Before the governor's executive order, school board members had voted unanimously to make masks optional for the new school year.

School board members took that vote before new guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask indoors, including teachers, staff, students and visitors regardless of vaccination status. The CDC announced the new guidance to prevent the further spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.

District 303 parent Mitch Bridges said he pulled his son out of Munhall Elementary School because of the mask mandate. He would like the school board to return to its previous stance that masks be optional.

"Then everybody gets what they want," Bridges said. "My kid can go back to school mask free."

His other child is in high school and wears a mask to school.

Bridges also addressed school board members during a Learning and Teaching Committee meeting along with parent Shannon Sullivan, who has two children attending St. Charles North High School. Last fall, Sullivan organized rallies calling for a return to in-person learning.

"Why can't I choose what's best for my child?" Sullivan asked. "My kids have masks on today not because I'm afraid they're going to die or kill anyone, but because I want them to go to school and have an in-person education. So I play along with this charade."

She asked the board to "please stand with us and make good choices."

"Our children deserve better," Sullivan said.

Parent Meghan Bradt thanked school board members for following the mask mandate.

"I completely understand the other side," she said. "But I appreciate that you are also helping to keep my children safe so they don't have to worry about getting mom sick."