West Cook News

Of the state’s 859 schools districts, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 is the last one to require masking.

District 97 will keep children masked until at least its March 17 board meeting.

This is despite the CDC relaxing masking guidelines in schools in late February as indoor masking went away in Illinois.

Community member Megan Murray submitted a note regarding changes in mask policy that the school board read at its most recent meeting.

"I do hope D97 plans to follow the newest CDC guidelines and make masking optional in schools effective this week," Murray wrote in her note to the school board. "Oak Park is not an island or bubble so shouldn't be held to different standards than other communities in Cook County."

However, the school district noted in late February its stance and has held to it despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional.

That move came as – and some say was spurred by – GOP attorney general candidate Tom DeVore’s successful lawsuit that overturned Pritzker’s mask mandate.

Oak Park itself has been a holdout as a community when it comes to relaxing mask restrictions.

River Forest District 90 initially held out, but overturned its stance amid parent pushback.

While the legality of enforcing masking from the governor’s mansion has been struck down, local school systems like D97 are free to enact such policies.

The school district is being overseen by co-interim superintendents Dr. Griff Powell and Dr. Patricia Wernet.

The district recently hired Ushma Shah as its next superintendent. Shah was most recently a central office employee for Chicago Public Schools, which is relaxing its mask policy on March 14 after its CEO -- Shah's former boss -- was called up for a contempt hearing for continued forced-masking against court orders.

Shah is tied into the Prtizker administration, where she serves as an Early Childhood Development member of the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development.

She will make $222,500 per year in the role.

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 oversees 6,043 students spread out over 10 schools.

Village of Oak Park Health Director Theresa Chapple has been outspoken in favor of masking. She shared a debunked academic study supporting her views on Twitter in February.