Parents in Wilmington, Elwood join lawsuit over school mask mandate

Local school districts Wilmington 209-U and Elwood 203 are among 145 school districts named in a lawsuit filed last week to try to overturn the school mask mandate put in place this year by Gov. JB Pritzker.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 20 in Macoupin County by attorney Thomas Devore on behalf of dozens of parents across the state.

The lawsuit contends that school districts have “implemented and are illegally enforcing the exclusion directives” issued by Gov. JB Pritzker and enforced by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

The filing argues that state law requires that “no person may be ordered to be quarantined or isolated except with the consent of the person or upon the prior order of a court of competent jurisdiction” and that “to obtain a court order, local health department or IDPH, by clear and convincing evidence, must prove that the public’s health and welfare are significantly endangered by a person, that is suspected of having, that has been exposed to, or that is reasonably believed to have been exposed to a dangerously contagious or infectious disease.”

The lawsuit further argues that masking and exclusion from school are both forms of quarantine.

The lawsuit versus Wilmington 209U was filed by Devore on behalf of Kasey and Jeremiah Martin, Marissa and Gregory Hall, Cara Devens, Elizabeth Del Real, Brandi and David Schlieper, Nicole and Joel Marchio, Jessica Turk, and Samantha Smith, and on behalf of their minor children.

In Elwood, the lawsuit was filed by Danielle and Ryan Keuch, Jodi Bruno, Heidi Fullriede, Danielle Grencik, and Vanessa Rossolille, and on behalf of their minor children.

All the parents listed in the suit filed for themselves “as well as on behalf of all other parents and guardians of students similarly situated,” the lawsuit states.

The defendants include all 145 named school districts, including Wilmington 209U, Elwood 203, Manhattan 114, Minooka 201, Minooka 111, Plainfield 202, Naperville 203, Herscher 2, Bradley Bourbonnais 303, and Channahon 17, as well as the IDPH, IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the ISBE, state superintendent Dr. Carmen I. Ayala, and Gov. JB Pritzker.

After DeVore filed the lawusit, Pritzker said his orders are keeping people safe and he’ll fight the case in the courts.

“He’s a grifter who is taking money from parents who are being taken advantage of,” Pritzker said during an unrelated news conference.

One of the plaintiffs in the case, Awake Illinois founder and parent Shannon Adcock, said the governor is a disappointment for inferring the hundreds of parents who came together to contact DeVore are being fooled.

“We parents are not being duped,” Adcock said. “We have consciously taken this step on behalf of our communities to fight for our parental rights and due process.”

After Pritzker's “grifter” comments, DeVore said he has hired an attorney and will sue the governor for defamation for being called a thief.

A hearing on the mask lawsuit is set for Nov. 5 in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court in downstate Carlinville.