East Peoria School District 86 will begin the year requiring masks.
Superintendent Tony Ingold said it's the best option to keep kids in school as much as possible.
"It's about how do we keep students in school and not have these repetitive isolations occur, or these healthy quarantines that occur? And the masks would actually allow us an opportunity to do that," said Ingold.
Ingold said the new state guidance doesn't consider a student a close contact of a COVID-positive student if at least 3 feet of physical distance is maintained. That could cut down on the number of students required to quarantine as a precautionary measure. But those new guidelines apply only if both students are masked up. Otherwise, the old rules requiring 6 feet of distancing still apply.
As a kindergarten through 8th grade district, Ingold said 60 percent of the district's students are too young to get vaccinated at this point.
On Monday night, the school board voted 4-2 to keep masking mandates in place until at least Sept. 15, when it will look to reassess the current local COVID-19 situation. Currently, the CDC rates Tazewell County at "substantial" COVID-19 risk, and recommends everyone don a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
Board member Patty Mingus said she likes the idea of mask-optional, but she thinks masking is worth it if it cuts down on those so-called "healthy quarantines."
"My daughter was quarantined four times last year. That's two months she sat at home by herself. And I witnessed what that did to her," said Mingus.
Board vice president Eric Duckworth was one of the two "no" votes. He said he didn't have enough information on the subject.
"I'll be honest. I hate masks. My kids hate masks. My kids have been playing with their friends all summer and absolutely no issues," he said. "I got myself vaccinated. I got vaccinated because I didn't want to wear masks. And now we're being told, Oh, you got vaccinated? Well, too bad. You still have to wear a mask. It was like, whoa, what's the point of coming up with the vaccination, if we're still going to have to wear the masks? That makes absolutely no sense to me, when they say it'll protect other people. Well, who am I protecting? If people are vaccinated, then they shouldn't have an issue."
Just over 46% of Tazewell County's population is considered fully vaccinated. In its new guidance, the CDC cites new evidence that fully vaccinated people can spread the Delta variant as easily as the unvaccinated. The Delta variant is considered more contagious than previous COVID-19 strains — and it's also become a dominant strain. Pekin-based Reditus Labs said the Delta strain comprised 95% of the sequenced positives they sampled in July.
But health experts say the majority of those hospitalized or dying from the Delta variant are unvaccinated.
Several parents spoke against requiring masks at the school board meeting on Monday.
Matt Robison is a parent and a teacher at Lettie Brown Grade School in Morton.
"There are the risks and issues that impact the children. In East Peoria, COVID seems to dominate everything in a 22-page document you all shared as to why kids in the city can't have a normal school year, Robison said. "I've heard the argument that it saves life. And to that I say. No, you don't get to use my kids to save anyone's life. I'm a parent. It is literally my job to protect them. I've taught for 14 years. There are kids in my classroom that I'm fiercely protective of, but they are not put on this earth to protect some hypothetical immunocompromised adult."
Robison said children have a better chance of dying in a car accident than they do from contracting COVID-19, and claimed the fear generated by the virus and masking will cause anxiety, depression and suicides worse than that threat of COVID-19 itself.
Parent Sherri Hidalgo said she also feared the mental impacts on her children if masking was required.
"We have had an amazing experience having our kids in this school system. But the longer that we go and go through the pandemic, or the variations, or whatever you want to call it, I can't — I know there's a better way of life for my children," she said. "If we continue down this path, I don't want to continue putting my children in this harm."
Parent Tim Gauwitz said those who want masking should keep their kids at home. He grew emotional speaking about his opposition to masks to the board.
"I feel like my kids, they don't like the masks. I feel like it hinders their education. You know, they don't want to go to school because of that solely. I think, you know, they're not seeing everybody's expressions, the smile on their face. I want my kids to grow up like I did," Gauwitz said.
The county currently reports a 4.39% COVID positivity rate.
Board president Dennis Vandiver voted to implement masking for the beginning of the school year. He said someone was going to be angry no matter which way the board voted.
"At this point, with the numbers that I'm seeing, I just feel that at the start of the school, mask up, and get to optional as soon as possible. This is the way I feel about it. I'd rather be safe than sorry, at this point," he said.
