Student-athletes at scores of Illinois public and private high schools will be prohibited from participating in playoff games this fall unless their local school boards comply with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 school mask mandate, Illinois High School Association officials said Tuesday.
The decision by the IHSA board of directors means that high school athletes will be banned from playing in the State Series for a sport if their school is still on the Illinois State Board of Education’s probation list for non-compliance with the mask mandate on the “seeding” date — the deadline for entering the playoffs — for a fall sport, IHSA officials said in a statement.
In addition, “the IHSA staff has been directed to set appropriate timelines based on the schedule for each fall sport to begin relieving schools of their State Series hosting responsibilities if they are currently on ISBE probation due to non-compliance with the state mask mandate,” officials said.
As of Tuesday, roughly 48 public school districts and eight private schools across Illinois were on the board’s non-compliance list, with public schools given a 60-day probation period to comply with the executive order, while the status of private schools flouting the rule was immediately changed to “unrecognized.”
“The IHSA board of directors did not look at this situation as being a pro-mask or anti-mask issue, nor did they view their ruling as any type of political stance,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. “Setting aside their own personal opinions, they were unanimous in the belief that the IHSA is a rule-driven organization that should continue to align with ISBE rules for the good of its membership.
“The board felt that not following the mandate was akin to a team picking and choosing what rules they were going to follow in a football game or volleyball match,” Anderson said.
The IHSA is hearing from high schools “that are declining to play teams that are on probation due to non-compliance with the mask mandate,” Anderson said. He said high schools are particularly concerned about football and volleyball games, which involve close contact among players.
This fall, masks are currently only required for indoor sports, he said.
“(The IHSA board) shared a growing frustration among schools on how the scheduling process has been impacted by schools not following the mandate, which ultimately led them to set forth measures that they believe will help prevent some of those same issues from occurring during the postseason,” Anderson said.
Some educators who support the state’s school mask mandate say the 60-day probation period for non-compliant schools is far too lenient, and potentially puts students at other schools at risk of infection at IHSA events.
“If the executive order has the force of law, why are 60 days necessary to comply?” Sheri Smith, superintendent of Forrestville Valley Community Unit School District 221 said at last week’s state board of education meeting, adding: “We’re left to determine if our students are placed at undue risk by participating with noncompliant districts.”
The mask requirement was prompted by a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that masks be worn indoors at schools to prevent the spread of the surging delta variant. The decree has become a political flashpoint across Illinois, dampening the enthusiasm of what many had hoped would be a celebratory return to in-person learning this fall.
Several public and private schools on the state’s non-compliance list have recently indicated to ISBE they intend to comply with the rule, while others, including Warsaw Community Unit School District 316, say they are likely to reverse course in the coming weeks.
“Our tentative plan is to follow the mask mandate by early September, because with the IHSA rule, our athletes might be put in jeopardy,” said Steve Lucie, a former longtime school board member with District 316, and a fifth generation farmer in the rural district along the Mississippi River, about 290 miles from Chicago.
As a member of the grassroots community group, “We Stand for Our Students,” which supports local control of education decisions, Lucie said the mood at Monday night’s District 316 school board meeting was, “very, very somber, and one of the saddest days I can remember.”
“Warsaw is the epitome of a small town, where the whole community comes out to watch the football team on Friday nights,” said Lucie.
“The farmers stop their combines and go to the games, and not just football, but volleyball and golf,” Lucie said, adding: “This is an agricultural community, but parents shut down whatever they’re doing to stand along the fence and watch their kids play.”
At Timothy Christian Schools in Elmhurst, which earlier this month was briefly placed on ISBE’s noncompliance list but had its status restored as “recognized” just days later, athletic director Jack LeGrand said the girls volleyball team was excited to face off with Fenwick High School in Oak Park Tuesday afternoon.
“We have a very strong athletic program, and all of our students and coaches are just really excited to start playing sports,” LeGrand said.
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The decision by the IHSA board of directors means that high school athletes will be banned from playing in the State Series for a sport if their school is still on the Illinois State Board of Education’s probation list for non-compliance with the mask mandate on the “seeding” date — the deadline for entering the playoffs — for a fall sport, IHSA officials said in a statement.
In addition, “the IHSA staff has been directed to set appropriate timelines based on the schedule for each fall sport to begin relieving schools of their State Series hosting responsibilities if they are currently on ISBE probation due to non-compliance with the state mask mandate,” officials said.
As of Tuesday, roughly 48 public school districts and eight private schools across Illinois were on the board’s non-compliance list, with public schools given a 60-day probation period to comply with the executive order, while the status of private schools flouting the rule was immediately changed to “unrecognized.”
“The IHSA board of directors did not look at this situation as being a pro-mask or anti-mask issue, nor did they view their ruling as any type of political stance,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. “Setting aside their own personal opinions, they were unanimous in the belief that the IHSA is a rule-driven organization that should continue to align with ISBE rules for the good of its membership.
“The board felt that not following the mandate was akin to a team picking and choosing what rules they were going to follow in a football game or volleyball match,” Anderson said.
The IHSA is hearing from high schools “that are declining to play teams that are on probation due to non-compliance with the mask mandate,” Anderson said. He said high schools are particularly concerned about football and volleyball games, which involve close contact among players.
This fall, masks are currently only required for indoor sports, he said.
“(The IHSA board) shared a growing frustration among schools on how the scheduling process has been impacted by schools not following the mandate, which ultimately led them to set forth measures that they believe will help prevent some of those same issues from occurring during the postseason,” Anderson said.
Some educators who support the state’s school mask mandate say the 60-day probation period for non-compliant schools is far too lenient, and potentially puts students at other schools at risk of infection at IHSA events.
“If the executive order has the force of law, why are 60 days necessary to comply?” Sheri Smith, superintendent of Forrestville Valley Community Unit School District 221 said at last week’s state board of education meeting, adding: “We’re left to determine if our students are placed at undue risk by participating with noncompliant districts.”
The mask requirement was prompted by a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that masks be worn indoors at schools to prevent the spread of the surging delta variant. The decree has become a political flashpoint across Illinois, dampening the enthusiasm of what many had hoped would be a celebratory return to in-person learning this fall.
Several public and private schools on the state’s non-compliance list have recently indicated to ISBE they intend to comply with the rule, while others, including Warsaw Community Unit School District 316, say they are likely to reverse course in the coming weeks.
“Our tentative plan is to follow the mask mandate by early September, because with the IHSA rule, our athletes might be put in jeopardy,” said Steve Lucie, a former longtime school board member with District 316, and a fifth generation farmer in the rural district along the Mississippi River, about 290 miles from Chicago.
As a member of the grassroots community group, “We Stand for Our Students,” which supports local control of education decisions, Lucie said the mood at Monday night’s District 316 school board meeting was, “very, very somber, and one of the saddest days I can remember.”
“Warsaw is the epitome of a small town, where the whole community comes out to watch the football team on Friday nights,” said Lucie.
“The farmers stop their combines and go to the games, and not just football, but volleyball and golf,” Lucie said, adding: “This is an agricultural community, but parents shut down whatever they’re doing to stand along the fence and watch their kids play.”
At Timothy Christian Schools in Elmhurst, which earlier this month was briefly placed on ISBE’s noncompliance list but had its status restored as “recognized” just days later, athletic director Jack LeGrand said the girls volleyball team was excited to face off with Fenwick High School in Oak Park Tuesday afternoon.
“We have a very strong athletic program, and all of our students and coaches are just really excited to start playing sports,” LeGrand said.
Illinois schools flouting Pritzker school mask mandate banned from fall playoff games
Student-athletes at scores of Illinois public and private high schools will be prohibited from participating in playoff games this fall unless their local school boards comply with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s
