Unit 40 Lifts Mask Requirement, Instead Strongly Recommending

The Effingham Unit 40 Board of Education Friday voted to lift the required masking of students and staff, effective immediately.

Instead, masks and weekly COVID testing will now be "strongly recommended". 

The vote was 6-1. Desha Wear voted No on the motion, saying she wanted to wait on further direction from the Court, but said she absolutely understood the feelings of others in favor of lifting the mask requirement.

Greg Sapp talked with Unit 40 Board President Robin Klosterman as to the process that led to the Board's decision...

Wear shared that she "wants kids to know what their teachers look like", but still wanted to wait one more week to get some further definition from the Court. 

As for the other Board members:

Jane Willenborg said, "I don't think masks help". 

Steve Bone said, "It's time...enough is enough."

Brad Waldhoff agreed with Bone and said, "It's time to see smiling faces again."

Chad Thompson said, "It's time to make a change, to make it optional, but we need to respect each other's choices in the matter."

Jill Wendling said, "The health of our students, our staff, our parents needs to be the focus. I pray that we're over the biggest hump. I hope we have conversations with our kids about this whole situation."

Some of the 50 or so present for the meeting still spoke, but most thanked the Board for their decision Friday night, although some suggested that it could have been made sooner.

One of those who spoke in August when the mask requirement was implemented and has remained active in the discussion is Effingham High School senior Grace Bushur, and Greg spoke with her after the decision...

Now that the decisiion has been made to make masking and weekly COVID testing strongly recommended and not required, it falls to Superintendent Mark Doan to oversee the implementation. Greg talked with him about that...

Once again, mask wearing is no longer required in Unit 40 buildings. A reminder that masking on school buses is still required, as in all districts, as that is a Federal requirement from the CDC.