Kendall County Times

Becky Nelson said the case for ending mask mandates in schools has already been made when one looks at the difference in outcomes between private and public schools.

Nelson, a Little Rock Township trustee, local activist and mother, told Kendall County Reporter that despite measures taken by public schools to shut down early on during the pandemic and require masks upon the schools' reopening, abundant research calls into question the wisdom of wearing masks.

In a commentary written for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, two University of Illinois at Chicago professors found that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles ... and offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation."

In "Does that Face Mask Really Protect You," a 2010 research article, Dr. Larry E. Bowen of the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Ala., fit various types of masks on a mannequin to study their effectiveness, and found that wearing surgical, bandana and dust masks offers "very little protection" and concluded that "wearing these face masks may produce a false sense of protection."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has targeted private and pubic schools that do not cooperate with his executive orders regarding mask usage in schools, threatening to withhold state funding or recognition.

Some public school leaders  and activists have protested the mandate.

“Locally I think we need to definitely focus on the public schools and how they are controlling the situation versus the private schools,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the parents are heard more in the private school system.  

“I’m connected to a couple of the private school leaders and I see such a variance between them  and the public school in how they're treating their parents through addressing the crises,” Nelson said. 

Nelson said she was happy to see private schools try to keep students on an even path.

“They're focusing on a resolution and how they're keeping their students in the most normal environment they can,” she said.

According to her, such cooperation provides a pleasant environment for learning and student development.

“It is literally pendulum swings when it comes to public and private,” Nelson said.

She points to Parkview Christian Academy as an example of a private school being unfairly targeted by authorities.

“Parkview Christian is trying to endanger the kids because they're not making them wear masks?” Nelson exclaimed. “But yet they have no outbreaks over there.”

The school is being subjected to a lawsuit due to its refusal to comply with Pritzker's executive orders.

By not enforcing a mask mandate, the school wanted to ensure normal, uninterrupted teaching, while keeping an eye on the spread of the virus.

State authorities have threatened to revoke the school’s accreditation status.

A large number of school supporters gathered in front of the courthouse during a recent hearing.

A judge on Wednesday ordered the state recognition of the school to be temporarily returned, explaining that it is a school that has a different standard from the public schools.

The thought that Parkview Christian Academy is endangering its children is completely unfounded, Nelson said.

Pritzker in August issued an order for mandatory wearing of masks to students and staff inside the school, regardless of whether they were vaccinated.

Following the revocation of the recognition of the school by ISBE, the school will not be able to participate in the Illinois High School Association and in the children's scholarship programs.

Parkview Christian will have a meeting with ISBE in December, when a formal complaint will be made about the proceedings against the school.