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The Edwardsville District #7 sent a letter home to families yesterday addressing it being named in two lawsuits over masks, exclusions, and COVID mitigation strategies.
The letter from the superintendent says there could be a ruling from a judge later this week and it could possibly end with children doing remote learning. […]
The superintendent says it is possible that the judge will determine that schools cannot enforce the use of masks in school for students and staff members. Masking is one of the district’s current mitigation strategies.
The letter states that even though COVID numbers are trending down in the district Madison County has a a 22% positivity rate.
The superintendent says if the health and safety of our students and staff cannot be guaranteed due to the high number of positive cases, there is the possibility that the district may have to implement a district-wide adaptive pause and move to remote learning.
The superintendent says he hopes this is not the scenario, but it is a possibility.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:09 am
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Given the legal uncertainty, perfectly understandable for these districts to prepare for any eventuality. If the ruling goes against them, one would hope it would be stayed and the status quo maintained until a final ruling on an inevitable appeal.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:18 am
It continuously appears that the people who signed on as litigants to DeVore big payoff didn’t bother to think this one through all the way.
Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:19 am
Judges who think they know better than experts how COVID should be handled have no business being on the bench. We already know Devore is a grifter and hack. I hope the judge in this case doesn’t join him.
Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:19 am
Seems like masking and other mitigation measures are working well for the Edwardsville school district. Primary school is at 4.46% positive students, which is the highest percent in the district among grade breakdowns. http://ecusd7.org/district-reopening/
Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:33 am
The Triad school district, also in Madison county, released a similar message earlier this week.
Comment by Retired and Still in Illinois Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:33 am
I simply cannot imagine the judge ruling that these children of the plaintiffs have a legal right to not wear masks in schools. As I recall reading, this judge previously has ruled that the Governor does have the authority to issue serial Executive Orders regarding pandemic responses. I cannot imagine any grounds upon which a sitting judge would conclude that Executive Orders can be issued and valid, but not applied at the local level.
Comment by H-W Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 11:54 am
Do not be take off guard by what these anti-mask groups are going to do next. The first hints of it are coming out now.
They are going after the ’surety insurance of school boards’, and will be filing claims to force payouts of $1M per board member for what they call illegal activity.
Do they stand a chance of success, probably not. But that’s missing the point. The point is to disrupt these boards as much as possible. When one tactic that has been working and is coming to the end of its usefulness, the next tactic is already warmed up and ready to go.
Of course, this all requires a profound misunderstanding of how surety insurance works, and more specifically who pays for it.
In 30 to 60 days, we will probably all be talking about surety insurance.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 12:17 pm
-They are going after the ’surety insurance of school boards’, and will be filing claims to force payouts of $1M per board member for what they call illegal activity.-
They really want to tangle with large insurance companies and their legal teams? Hoo boy. The sanctions and fee awards against the stooges who sign up for that will be mind boggling. At the most basic level you can’t file a claim if the insurance contract doesn’t mention you.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 12:40 pm
=They are going after the ’surety insurance of school boards’, and will be filing claims to force payouts of $1M per board member for what they call illegal activity.=
Well that’s just beyond ridiculous. Setting aside the argument of whether or not there’s a merit to such claim, surety arrangements are backed by indemnification agreements between the surety and the party holding the surety bond. Any money paid by the surety would in turn have to be repaid to them by the district.
Comment by Pundent Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 1:26 pm
Do not be take off guard by what these anti-mask groups are going to do next.
This is so true. I’ve been watching a major player from Naperville that has members across the State. They are out for blood. All of them are part of DeVore’s American Freedom Society and take a lot of their marching orders from him. The leader of this group, she has members preparing to run for school boards, County Boards, whatever it takes to be in control. Whatever it takes to stop the tyranny from the Governor. They blow up Twitter daily with their anti-vax, anti-mask and anti-pandemic rhetoric.
Comment by Club J Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 1:29 pm
School Board Member here. At this point, my concern is the real actual, current costs of attorney fees and in administration time spent in planning and responding that is taking away from resources spent in and for the classroom.
Comment by Eyeball Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 2:03 pm
Superintendent of Heyworth Schools interview-
“While Heyworth is not a part of any lawsuits, Dr. Taylor says they are advocates for local control and really want guidance on metrics and what targets they could potentially have to meet to regain local control.
Dr. Taylor calls it discouraging because you fire up social media with whatever they do and people are passionate and frustrated by the whole situation and it is creating a lot of division, not just in her community, but communities across the state.” https://dewittdailynews.com/local-news/616393?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 2:32 pm
=the real actual, current costs of attorney fees and in administration time spent in planning and responding that is taking away from resources spent in and for the classroom.=
=Dr. Taylor says they are advocates for local control and really want guidance on metrics and what targets they could potentially have to meet to regain local control.=
I know Lisa, she is not an expert on pandemics. I love it when people ask questions that have been answered but act like they have not. The metrics are on the ISBE website Dr. Taylor (Lisa) don’t be so lazy.
The costs come from your Tort fund so that isn’t coming out of your classroom. Teachers and principals shouldn’t have much to do with the lawsuit, but I guess they could. This is just running your superintendent ragged.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 3:38 pm
It was mentioned above, but any legal fees could come from Tort. However, my guess is most of the anti-mask crowd are also anti-tax. Tort is an open-ended levy. So…do your thing, anti-maskers. You’ll pay for it one way or another.
Comment by Opiate of the Masses Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 3:47 pm
Forgot to add: Let’s pretend they could sue the insurance company holding the surety bond (I’d bet my own money they cannot), are they aware who really pays that freight? Hint, it ain’t the insurance company (see also, the open-ended Tort fund levy).
Comment by Opiate of the Masses Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 3:50 pm
Surety bond on the supt or school board? Not in Illinois. Typically the only district employees that are bonded are the treasurer and the bookkeeper/CSBO/business manager because of their fiscal responsibilities. The rest are covered by a series of insurance policies.
Districts that do not enforce the required mandates put themselves at risk not the ones that do. Good luck with the lawsuits nut jobs.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jan 27, 22 @ 6:38 pm