West Cook News

Fenwick High School principal Peter Groom took to the school’s loudspeaker Thursday afternoon to inform students that, despite what other high schools in the area are doing, he plans to require them to wear masks, indefinitely.

Groom threatened that students would be individually quarantined, if the 1,200-student population were allowed to unmask. 


“We have committed to being in in-school every day this year. If we are to take masks off, the close contact distance changes from three feet to six feet,” he said. “This means that wherever you are, if you are within six feet of someone for 15 minutes or longer than you are a close contact, whoever you sit next to in any classroom will be close contact. That is non-negotiable and that is not our decision. If that happens, the following groups of people will be in danger of being excluded.”

Fenwick President Richard Peddicord went maskless at the school on Thursday, as he told students they would remain in masks indefinitely. | Facebook.com

Groom also said the high school might have to shut down if unmasking were allowed. 

“If we were to come out back without masks, we would also be in danger of going through large periods of time if many teachers go out because finding substitutes is getting harder and harder for us all of the time,” he said.

Groom said more children "between six months and five years" need to get COVID-19 jabs before it will be safe to take masks off at Fenwick.

"Children between the ages of six months and five years old will be eligible to be vaccinated soon," he said. "This includes brothers and sisters of classmates and children of faculty and staff. Once these kids have time to be vaccinated and if the hospitalization rate continues to decline, I believe the mask mandate will end. It is coming soon."

Groom also explained to students that Fenwick has a "lasting relationship" with the Village of Oak Park, where the school is located, and that if the village's public health director, Theresa Chapple, wants masks to continue, he believes the school must abide.

"Regardless of what the legal challenges state, and we’ve looked into it, we must still abide the Oak Park Public Health Department. And we will not disregard that authority," he said.

Sources tell West Cook News that students leaving Fenwick Thursday were in tears over the announcement.

"Null and void"

Groom was referring to a state court order Fri. Feb 4 that declared Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statewide school mask mandate "null and void." Hundreds of Illinois school districts and Catholic schools, including Benet Academy in Lisle and Montini Catholic in Lombard, have dropped their student mask requirements since.

Fenwick had long argued to students that it was bound by Pritzker's mandate, and that it required masks because of it.

But that court order also deemed Oak Park's mask mandate, issued last August, as "null and void." 

The order explained that per state law, mask requirements are a "form of quarantine," as they are a measure “intended to limit disease transmission.”

Per state law, individuals quarantined have due process rights-- including the right to object to procedures like masks and "exclusion from school." Oak Park's mask order does not allow for objection or afford individuals due process rights.

Chapple, who tried to shut down Oak Park and River Forest H.S. sports and extracurriculars in December, but was rebuffed by a parent revolt, is an advocate for continued COVID-19 lockdowns and forced, indefinite masking.

However, Chapple did suggest in an email to a Fenwick parent last week that she believes the school has more discretion on masks, and can limit them in different settings.

Fenwick has allowed alumni attending events in the school this year to be mask-less, while still requiring students to wear them in class.

And School President Fr. Richard Peddicord, Groom's boss, removed his mask Thursday during a ceremony uncovering the name of longtime girls basketball coach Dave Power on the floor in the school's gymnasium.  

Peddicord explained in an email to a parent that he had his mask "off for one minute to pray.. no double standard."

A photographer at the event told students and teachers to "put their masks back on so we can take a picture and put it on social media."

Earlier in the week, Peddicord also distributed photos of himself maskless at the Naples (Fla.) Yacht Club last weekend, as mask orders were being lifted in other schools, but reinforced by Fenwick.

"Does that Face Mask Really Protect You," a 2010 research article by Dr. Larry E. Bowen of the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Ala., fit various types of masks on a mannequin to study their effectiveness, found that wearing surgical, bandana and dust masks offer "very little protection" and concluded that "wearing these face masks may produce a false sense of protection."



Quarantining in youth has been correlated with a large spike in youth depression. Emergency room visits among students for suspected suicide attempts have increased by 31% over the duration of the pandemic.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children's Hospital Association have declared the mental health of children a "national emergency."


See the full transcript of Groom’s announcement to the school below:

All places in Oak Park must abide by their guidelines. 
Since we are in Oak Park, Illinois we must abide by the guidelines laid out by the Oak Park Health Department. 

Regardless of what the legal challenges state, and we’ve looked into it, we must still abide the Oak Park Public Health Department. And we will not disregard that authority, which has been in Illinois since before Mr. Finnell was even born. Fenwick will be in Oak Park when you have grandchildren and Fenwick will be in Oak Park when your grandchildren and grandchildren. 
Oak Park, Illinois is among the longest lasting relationships that Fenwick has.


The second reason is that we have committed to being in in-school every day this year. If we are to take masks off the close contact distance changes from three feet to six feet. 
This means that wherever you are, if you are within six feet of someone for 15 minutes or longer than you are a close contact, whoever you sit next to in any classroom will be close contact. 

That is non-negotiable and that is not our decision. If that happens, the following groups of people will be in danger of being excluded. 


First any student who is younger than 18 years old and is not vaccinated and the second will be any student or adult who is 18 years old or older, who has not been vaccinated or who has not received their booster yet. 

That is the vast majority of people 18 years or older in this building. The only exclusion to this rule is if you have had a documented - again a documented - Covid case in the last 90 days. 

So your chances of getting quarantined will go up exponentially if we unmask. 
If we were to come out back without masks, we would also be in danger of going through large periods of time if many teachers go out because finding substitutes is getting harder and harder for us all of the time. 


With all that we have and will continue to ask the Oak Park Health Department when the time is right to take off masks. 
We are not public health professionals, as smart and I think that I am, no amount of internet research can put me on par with the public health professionals who are guiding them.

I am certain that many of you are upset with this news, I understand. 


From yesterday's announcement it appears that there are two indicators in particular that our state is examining.

First, the hospitalization rate needs to continue to decline. 

Second, children between the ages of six months and five years old will be eligible to be vaccinated soon. This includes brothers and sisters of classmates and children of faculty and staff. Once these kids have time to be vaccinated and if the hospitalization rate continues to decline, I believe the mask mandate will end. It is coming soon. 

Finally, this pandemic will define your generation. When you were growing up many of us older folks talked about you as the “me” generation. Everything me, me, me, me. This pandemic has changed all that. You have lost so many things that we all took for granted when we were kids. 

We realize that we also realize that you have sacrificed so much for others. The idea of the me generation is an absolute insult, and you are the ‘we generation.’ You have been the least vulnerable yet still have to sacrifice for others. The time for masks coming off is near. Normalcy is common. We will relentlessly inquire with our health department as to when the time is right to take off mass. Thank you and have a great day.