MAPLE PARK, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Students are returning to classes Wednesday in some Chicago-area districts, including Glenbard, Arlington Heights, and Kaneland; and the return comes with a warning.
We have heard a good deal of defiance about the state's mask mandate in schools from parents and students; and in Kaneland Community Unit School District 302, Superintendent Todd Leden said there will be discipline if students refuse to wear masks.
"I understand your anger. We would all like to return to pre-COVID world. We are all angry and eager to move forward; however, in order to bring this pandemic behind us, we cannot afford to get distracted. This is not a political issue, this is not a debate about personal freedom. We want our kids in school. We want our kids safe in school. We continue to face a public health emergency," Leden said Monday during a meeting.
Before the governor issued the mask mandate, the Kaneland School Board had voted to make masks optional.
When asked how students would be disciplined for not wearing a mask, Leden said that first, any student not wearing a mask will be offered one. In the event of a student who "willfully and wantonly refuses to wear a mask," the family will be contacted,in the hopes that parents are in support of the mask policy.
Following those steps, if a student continues to refuse to wear a mask, a series of actions, including detention or exclusion from school activities would result, Leden told board members Monday at Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove.
Additionally, no one will be required to have been vaccinated against COVID-19; and, starting Aug. 16, the district will offer the SHIELD Illinois saliva-based test developed by the University of Illinois.
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