As local schools are settling into a new “mask optional” policy, mixed reactions are surfacing. 

The change was a result of Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow issuing a temporary restraining order relating to dictating districts’ COVID-19 procedures on Feb. 4. 

The TRO, which is in response to two lawsuits filed by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore, said individuals cannot be required to mask without a “lawful order of quarantine” and due process must be granted before schools exclude staff or students. 

The Waterloo, Valmeyer and Columbia school districts were all named as defendants in the suit brought forth by parents, and all are now operating under a mask optional policy. 

“(My daughter) and many of her peers had a level of excitement to go to school again that they haven’t had for a long while,” said Derek Hawkins, the parent of a Waterloo Junior High School student and a plaintiff in the suit. “She’s excited for the option to choose.” 

For Hawkins’ daughter, who he said is part of the large majority of junior high students forgoing their masks, the change was welcome. 

“These kids have sleepovers and hang out with their friends and family’s friends constantly outside of school, never wearing a mask or social distancing at any point during these times. Having to wear a mask at school has been a frustration for her and she has questioned how it makes sense for this reason,” Hawkins said. “When kids were playing sports or talking, they were able to lower their mask to their chin or, more commonly, it is totally acceptable to wear a mask below their noses. She would constantly call that out as not making any sense.” 

Yet, while the judge’s decision is praised by many, some parents say it – and its implications – did not consider the vulnerable portion of the student body. 

One of these parents is Adrienne Wiemerslage, a mother of three Waterloo students. Her eldest child Elsa is a sixth grader battling acute myeloid leukemia. 

“What was really sad to me was the kids like my daughter – who is severely immunocompromised – are left out,” Wiemerslage said. “There was no ruling, there was nothing stated anywhere, about these kids.” 

Recently, a simple common cold led to Elsa being hospitalized with pneumonia. COVID-19 presents this same – if not an immensely larger – threat. 

With Elsa’s medical team hoping she can soon return to in-person learning after only being in school two weeks of the academic year, the timing of schools’ lifting the mask mandate could not be more daunting for the Wiemerslages. 

“I really just want my kid to live and experience things as much as she can for as long as she can, and she can’t really experience things as much when she’s sitting at home,” Wiemerslage said, adding she hopes students and staff decide to mask around Elsa. “The thing I want people to remember is not everybody is walking the same path in life. Some have had it really easy, some have not, and we just can’t forget that we need to be there for one another. Support each other in ways like wearing a mask or staying home when you’re sick or keeping distance from people.” 

For another Waterloo mom of three, who asked not to be named to shield her children from any potential backlash, her children’s decisions to stay masked are directly related to one of them having an underlying health condition. 

“Two of their responses are variations of (they want to) protect their older brother who is at high-risk for COVID-19 complications, and my high-risk child’s (reason) is to protect himself so he doesn’t die,” she said. 

While she has talked to the district about remote learning plans, her family decided these pale in comparison to the educational and social benefits of an in-person education. For now, the family is masking and anxiously awaiting the appellate court’s ruling.

Hawkins said through his daughter talking with other students, he discovered some students’ decisions to mask go beyond COVID-related concerns.

“There were two of her peers who did express anxiety (about) not wearing masks, but not because of the risk of catching COVID: It was because they were nervous people might not think they looked as good without their mask on,” Hawkins said. “That broke my heart hearing that, as the mental health side of things is completely ignored but is very present. No child should have anxiety or be insecure about people seeing their smiling faces.” 

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron and Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode said that as of last week, the districts had not given staff explicit instructions on how to address questions relating to the temporary restraining order. 

Hawkins said his daughter’s teachers did not bring up the policy change, but some were masked while others were not. On the other hand, the anonymous parent said some of her junior high students’ teachers addressed their personal masking decisions directly: One educator said they are not masking as they have a medical condition that makes it hard to do so, while another masked and said she would prefer – but did not require – students to do so as well to prevent absences. 

One common theme brought up in classes, some parents said, was that there was to be no bullying surrounding one’s choice to mask or not. 

The anonymous parent said her students say it is not uncommon for students to talk about their masking decisions, but her kids have never experienced or witnessed any “disagreements” between students on the subject. 

Wiemerslage said upon hearing accounts from other students, though, she has heard a much different story. 

“A lot of Elsa’s friends in the junior high wear their masks at school whether it’s to support Elsa or just to keep (themselves) safe. They’ve been called names and they’ve been kind of ridiculed for making that decision,” Wiemerslage said. “I’m hoping that when Elsa goes back, people just ignore the fact that she’s wearing a mask because she absolutely has to wear a mask – there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it – she doesn’t get a choice.”

Charron said he has not received any reports about bullying at the school, and encourages children facing such issues to inform a teacher, administrator or report online at the district’s website, which can be done anonymously. 

In a previous email, Charron said the school district “will work with families that have extenuating circumstances causing them to elect to keep their children home.”