school masks

Starting next week, CPS said its mask mandate will be lifted for all students and staff, giving parents, students and employees a choice, though the district said it will continue to encourage their use. Lisa Chavarria reports.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling against mask mandates in schools was rejected late Thursday night by an appellate court, which wrote the request is “moot” because the governor’s emergency COVID-19 rules already expired.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the state will ask the Illinois Supreme Court to review an appellate court decision making masks optional in school settings, noting the ruling failed “to address important legal issues.”

Chicago Public Schools will continue to require face coverings in the classroom, as well as other COVID-19 protocols, despite an Illinois appellate court dismissing the governor’s appeal Thursday for masks mandates in schools.

An Illinois appellate court rejected Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling against a mask mandate in schools, writing the request is “moot” because the governor’s emergency COVID-19 rules already expired.

School starts in two weeks for Chicago Public Schools, but some parents are pushing the district to make a last-minute change. They want remote learning to be an option. NBC 5’s Vi Nguyen reports.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is “fully adopting” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated COVID-19 guidance for masking in schools, the department announced Friday. NBC 5’s Lexi Sutter reports.