Brimfield School District 309 is now on probation status with the Illinois State Board of Education.
This comes after district officials confirmed their return-to-school plan didn't comply with Gov. JB Pritzker's indoor school masking mandate imposed as Delta variant COVID-19 cases continue to increase.
Brimfield's plan recommends masking only when students are less than three feet apart for more than 15 minutes under Mitigation Level 1 of the district's three-tier plan. That rule applies when COVID-19 positivity rates are under 10%.
An ISBE spokesperson said the district can meet with the board to submit a corrective plan to restore the district's status.
If that doesn't happen, the spokesperson said the Brimfield school district will lose recognition status, leading to a total state funding cutoff and a ban from participating in IHSA and IESA sports.
The probationary letter was delivered Monday.
The Brimfield school board has scheduled a special school board meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss pending litigation in a closed session — followed by a possible vote on the return-to-school plan.
"The school district is in receipt of the letter from ISBE and school officials will be considering our next steps in the near future, in consultation with legal counsel," said superintendent Tony Shinall. He declined further comment.
