St. Charles School District officials say they are reviewing a downstate judge’s decision on Friday to temporarily restrain the district from enforcing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates.

St. Charles and Geneva school districts were among more than 140 school districts around the state named in a lawsuit designed to prevent the school districts from being able to require masks and vaccine mandates. In filing the lawsuit, parents argued there was no due process in Illinois’ statewide mask order.

Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow issued her decision Friday afternoon. Pritzker issued the mask mandate in August to bring the state in line with U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control guidance that says teachers and students older than the age of 2 need to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

“The District 303 administration, in consultation with our attorneys, is in the process of reviewing the judge’s ruling and how it could potentially impact our current mitigation efforts,” the district said in a letter to parents. “We will communicate with you as soon as possible on whether or how this ruling will impact students and staff.”

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office plans to appeal Grischow’s decision to the Illinois Appellate Court.

Kane County Judge Robert Villa in September denied a request from Ferson Creek Elementary School second grade teacher Nicole Cournaya for a temporary restraining order to prevent District 303 from enforcing Pritzker’s order banning school workers from buildings if they are unvaccinated against COVID-19 and refuse to be tested weekly.

According to St. Charles Education Association President Joe Blomquist, any employee that has been excluded from working in St. Charles schools as a result of the governor’s mandate would be able to return to their position as soon as they comply with the executive order, he had said at the time. The St. Charles Education Association has come out in support of the governor’s vaccine mandate for teachers and staff to reduce the spread of COVID-19.