Many have forgotten that school boards are elected to serve the citizens in their district. While these positions in Illinois are currently volunteer, and without compensation, school board members are an important protector of parent’s rights from the state government overreach we are seeing today resulting from these executive “mandates.”

Having grown weary from almost two years of watching their children suffer, parents have chosen to speak up in the past few months and have asked their school boards to implement mask optional policies in their individual districts, as the one size fits all solution of the state seems incomprehensible to many local communities. Often, the answer is “we must follow the mandates.”

This has led to significant litigation across the State of Illinois as parents have chosen to defend their children rights given their school boards have abandoned them seemingly to protect the truckloads of COVID cash handed to them by the state to compel their compliance.

However, there are some school boards which have chosen to push back and implement mask optional policies by insisting ISBE lacks authority to place them on probation. The Boards of Education from Red Hill CUSD 10, Cowden-Herrick Community Unit School District 3A, and Beecher City CUSD 20 chose to take a stand and represent their communities by implementing the mask optional policies being requested by their parents.

This decision led the Illinois State Board of Education to try and place these three school districts on probation. American Freedom Society Founder Thomas DeVore represents these districts, at no cost to the school district, and the school districts filed suit against the Illinois State Board of Education.

The judge issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the school districts, which prohibits ISBE from placing Red Hill CUSD 10, Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A, and Beecher City CUSD 20 on probation unless there is strict compliance with Illinois law. As of today, these three districts are operating with mask optional policies and none of them are on probation.

This case is still pending, and a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for January 12, 2022 where the State Superintendent is scheduled to testify. School boards need to be bold and implement their mask optional policies and stop using the mandates as a crutch. The school districts have rights under Illinois law, and they have an obligation to their communities to insist their rights are respected by state actors. If more school districts had the courage of Red Hill CUSD 10, Cowden-Herrick CUSD 3A, and Beecher City CUSD 20, one could only wonder how quickly this abuse of state power would come to an end.

Are you interested in making a difference in your community? American Freedom Society will provide you with the necessary tools to educate, empower, and equip you to be bold and make a difference.