For months, schools have been stating that they may lose funding or tort immunity if they go against guidelines. The problem, as I've seen first hand is that social media, parents, and schools have created an echo chamber and keep repeating the same info over and over again. Schools have sent out messages to parents with this same info, and even school board lawyers have reiterated the same info. The problem becomes clear when you really ask a simple question. WHERE DID THIS INFORMATION COME FROM?
So two FOIA requests were sent to ISBE asking to see if they had sent this to schools. One asked for any documents sent to any school in the state of Illinois that they would lose Tort immunity if they went against guidelines. ISBE's response to that is "NO RECORDS EXIST". So they have never told a single school this. The second FOIA request asked for any documents stating that schools would lose funding or recognition status for the school year 2021-2022. The last part being important, requests info for this fall school year, NOT for school last year. Their response is partial, and the only response is the letter that was sent to Red Hill for apparently ditching the masks last school year. What this means is that NOT A SINGLE bit of information had been sent to any school in the state saying they would lose funding for ditching mask requirements this fall, yet school attorneys, school boards, and superintendents continued to push this narrative. So if ISBE never told schools this, WHERE DID THEY GET THIS IDEA FROM? Have internet rumors made their way into legal advice give to school boards by their attorneys?
See FOIA requests made below.
The information on the second FOIA request turned up a treasure trove of communications between Red Hill School and ISBE, even the school asking for ISBE and IDPH representatives to show up to their next board meeting to explain their plans for the fall. READ THE FULL FOIA RESPONSE HERE! One of the most entertaining parts of this is actually found in the first page of this document, where ISBE basically says that Executive orders currently are the law on masks. Quick recap: legislative branch makes laws, not the Governor.
In recent days, the CDC had released updated guidance on schools saying they should exercise local control on how to implement mitigation measures such as masks. Then shortly after that, ISBE said they same, then schools starting saying masks were optional. This is the part that has unraveled a lot of the problems.
CDC is not a lawmaking body.
ISBE is not a lawmaking body.
If CDC flip flops in 2 months, is ISBE required to follow? Nope.
Are schools now at the mercy of CDC guidance and ignore state laws? Nope.
Schools are not given local control authority by the CDC or ISBE. Its in state law.
And the final nail in the coffin for ISBE supposedly having any authority over school funding based on masks is that the Red Hill school quietly had a court case pending against the ISBE about their "recognition status" being revoked. Suddenly and miraculously, ISBE sent a letter to Red Hill saying that their status was now immediately back to "Fully Recognized". READ THE LETTER HERE. So now the problems with this for the Next Time ISBE tries to do mask requirements for schools.
Red Hill ditched masks while ISBE still had a "requirement".
ISBE put Red Hill on probation.
ISBE has seince changed guidelines to say masks could be optional.
ISBE dropped the probation from this past May, even though supposedly in violation.
So the problem comes from this scenario. This fall CDC could say we need masks again, then ISBE follows. Now a school in this scenario decides to say "No we arent going to require masks" ISBE puts them on probation. Then after the ISBE ends their second rounds of mask requirements, the non-compliant schools status is returned to "Fully Recognized" If ISBE did it last time, they'll have to do it next time. The fact that they didnt pursue this is a sign they were aware of a pending court case against them that they were about to lose. Schools and parents need to understand that the only authorities given to any government body MUST be in a state law somewhere. In the case of schools its Admin Code Title 23 and 105 ILCS. If it doesnt say they have that authority, THEN THEY DONT HAVE IT! Nowhere in any of this does it says a school can lose tort immunity or funding based on suggestions from CDC and forwarded by ISBE. Nowhere in any of this does it say that a school has the authority to deny your children the right to public education based on their personal choice to wear a mask.