Three Central Illinois school districts have been prohibited from requiring masks for students without a formal quarantine order from the local health department.
According to WMAY, a Montgomery County judge handed down that order Friday against the Hillsboro School District, in the latest legal challenge to the state mask mandate brought by attorney Thomas DeVore. Similar orders were handed down earlier in the week against schools in Carlyle and Teutopolis.
DeVore began filing suits against the mandate back on August 9th shortly after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order for the mask mandate.
On Tuesday, West Central and Bluffs Superintendent Kevin Blankenship, released an opinion-editorial signed by 82 districts and regional offices of education from around the state questioning why local school boards are even elected now with what the letter characterized as severe overeach by the mandate and the Illinois State Board of Education’s ability to strip recognition status due to the mask mandate.
The Illinois Attorney General’s office is reviewing the rulings in the Central Illinois Courts and may appeal.