District 46 To Require Masks

GRAYSLAKE, IL — Community Consolidated School District 46 students will be required to wear masks when they return to school in the coming weeks, school officials announced this past week.

All students and staff, even if they are vaccinated, will need to wear masks, District 46 Superintendent Lynn Glickman wrote in a letter to parents on Wednesday. The school district looked to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Illinois Department of Public Health — both agencies are now calling for universal masking in schools—when making their decision.

They also surveyed parents. Survey results from 1,425 parents showed that 62.5 percent preferred masking be required for at least some people while 37.5 percent wanted it to be optional.

But there was no clear cut answer on the level of masking parents wanted in schools, school officials said.

Of those wanting masks, 33 percent wanted universal masking and 31 percent preferred that masking by optional for those who've been vaccinated and required for those who are not. But after taking public health guidance into consideration, District 46 decided to require masking for the start of the year.

"Our survey results show that some members of our CCSD 46 community will be supportive of this decision, and some will not," Glickman wrote in her Wednesday letter to parents. "Regardless of individual opinions about this, we hope that our community will understand that this decision was based upon the guidance we have received, the feedback from the community, and a great deal of deep discussion."

Masks must be worn inside at all times except when a student or staff member is eating. The masks can be removed during outdoor recess time. District 46 officials plan to evaluate masking rules regularly, at least monthly, to "determine when it may be revised."

"State and local guidance and metrics will be used to make these decisions," Glickman said.

More on this can be found on the District 46 website.

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