It’s sedate in Room 137 at Rock Falls High School. Superintendent Ron McCord is presenting the outline of the school’s Return to School plan.

It’s a factual presentation – just him, the board of education, the board secretary and two audience members. No parents. No clamoring. You can hear the hum of the air conditioner.

What McCord offers is a sobering explanation of what is before them: Classes start Aug. 12 and the latest COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health are, in large part, more relaxed than last spring, but contradictory in other respects. That, and the directive for in-school instruction, puts them into uncharted territory.

“With everything we’re used to seeing in the past year, it can change on a dime,” he said after the meeting. “We’re going to plan the best we can based on what we have at this time, try and make it as open and normal as possible. At the same time, we have to keep in mind there is still a pandemic going on and there are still issues that we have to mitigate and make sure we’re working with our local health department.”

That presentation stands in sharp contrast to public comment portion of the board of education meeting Monday in Oregon. Superintendent Tom Mahoney explained the same circumstances to an audience of 18.

Then six parents spoke emphatically about what they don’t want: a policy that makes masks mandatory. Reasons varied, but the overall message was clear: It should be a parent’s choice, they said.

By Friday, Mahoney had released the draft version of the plan for Oregon schools, essentially adopting CDC guidelines although leaving families the choice as to how they want to approach masking of students with the understanding that the “masking should occur when students are in buildings.” The district also has a series of restrictions that would kick-in depending on the number of cases of the virus.

Parental choice on masks was the conclusion reached by the Diocese of Rockford for private Catholic schools in its 11 counties, including Lee, Ogle, and Carroll. Parents will determine whether they and their child will wear a mask while attending school or religious education gatherings, the diocese said in a letter.

Public school administrators are walking a tightrope of rules and expectations. Remote learning is off the table as an option, except in those cases when students are quarantined, the state says. The move to full classrooms will require social distancing, 3 feet between individuals. Vaccinated students don’t have to wear masks and school boards may set mask policies, so long as health, safety and conditions in the larger community is considered, the CDC guidelines say. Many parents are set squarely against a mask directive, such as a group in Dixon that has started an online petition. Meanwhile in Sterling, summer school was used as a pilot program to test the new standards while its superintendent distributed to parents a five-page FAQ on the complex issue.

All this is against a backdrop in which vaccination rates in the Sauk Valley remain below 50 percent.

Dixon

A group of parents opposed to mask requirements will be rallying the Dixon school board next month. They are calling on the district to allow parents to decide.

Ann Nordan of Dixon created a petition on change.org titled Unmask the Children District 170 as well as a Facebook group of the same name. The petition had 237 signatures Friday afternoon and around 160 likes on the Facebook page.

“We the people are fed up with the masking of our children and their rights to education and breathing freely,” Nordan said, adding that they’re gathering as many parents and children to attend and speak out at the board’s next meeting Aug. 11.

“It should not be up to our school system to mask our children. It should be a parental and student choice,” according to the petition Nordan started. “As tax-paying citizens of Dixon, Illinois, we have to remember that the school board are elected officials and we have every right to voice our concerns.”

Nordan said that it doesn’t matter if someone is vaccinated or not; anyone can still contract the virus, and students shouldn’t face “medical discrimination” for being unvaccinated.

State and national data has shown that the vast majority of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are from unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated people.

According to Illinois coronavirus data in May, 94.5% of new COVID-19 cases, 91.3% of new hospitalizations, and 93.7% of new deaths were among people either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

In June, 87% of new cases, 86.5% of new hospitalizations and 89.6% of new deaths were among those either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

Superintendent Margo Empen said the board is still gathering data and information, which includes working with the Lee County Health Department, before making final reopening decisions. Dixon’s school plan will be voted on during that Aug. 11 meeting.

Like many other districts, it’s a bit of a waiting game until further guidance is released on the best practices to bring students back safely.

“We’re waiting for a little more guidance to come out, and we hope it comes out soon,” she said. “It’s still a work in progress. We want to make the most informed decision we can.”

The district’s Learning Leadership Team, which consists of teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators and board members, has also continued to meet and discuss layered mitigations for returning to the classroom.

Empen said she’s received around 15 calls and emails from concerned parents, a mix of those advocating for the district to follow guidelines and others who want masking to be up to parents.

It’s only 3 weeks until the start of school, but the state likely doesn’t want to rush to judgement and then have to change depending on the coronavirus situation, Empen said.

She also acknowledged that any requirements for masks and social distancing is “a hot-button topic for a lot of people.”

Starting Aug. 16, students will spend a full day in the classrooms, with first bell at 7:15 a.m. and dismissal at 2:15 p.m.

Sanitization procedures for classrooms, equipment and facilities, perfected over the past 15 months, will continue, and rapid testing for COVID-19, which the school instituted in January, again will be available based on parental permission for students or staff who may exhibit signs of illness.

Rock Falls

Troy Ebeneezer is the board of education president for District 13, one of the grade school districts that serve Rock Falls. As of now, children under 12 cannot be vaccinated, a major consideration when it comes to formulating a policy. He said there were eight parents at the last school board meeting. The next one is July 28. And he admits another meeting in August might be required if the state provides new information in the interim.

“I expect more at the next meeting,” he said. “I hope we get flooded with emails. The more that get involved in this decision, the easier it is. We can’t please everyone, but we will do our best.”

Ebeneezer says a lot depends on community input, whether the number of coronavirus cases is on the rise because of the gamma and delta variants, what the advice from the Whiteside County Health Department is and the availability of rapid saliva tests that can provide results within 15 minutes.

“As a parent, I would love to have kids back to normal so they can be in an environment where they are safe, have an opportunity where they are healthy,” he said.

He doesn’t want a situation where some students are masked and others aren’t, because of the stigma that brings; a likely possibility should a vaccine become available for those younger than 12. While no decision has been made, he said masking everyone is still an option. “I want our kids, teachers and staff to be in a good learning environment without distractions,” he said.

At the high school, which is a separate district, McCord said there has been an effort to provide vaccination opportunities. “So convenient, because they are right across the street.”

McCord says the school estimates that 123 returning students are vaccinated and about 90 percent of the entire staff, which includes assistants, teachers, custodians and others. The school plans to continue rapid testing, which he says, “helped out immensely.” He says the rapid tests should reduce the number of people quarantined because of contact tracing.

Sterling

For the summer school program ongoing at Sterling Public Schools, vaccinated students and staff are going without masks. Proof of vaccination had to be shown to the school nurse to be in that category. Superintendent Tad Everett told parents in a letter dated Tuesday the school will closely monitor the situation and compile data from this pilot program.

“If our data remains positive for the remainder of the summer, it gives more validity to making the same decision for the start of school,” the letter says.

The policy has not been set, but it will likely be presented at the next board meeting Aug. 11. Classes start Aug. 18.

Everett said the school is still soliciting input from parents and staff and remains in constant contact with the board.

The school district has four elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. The policy has to address the situation where the youngest students are ineligible for the vaccine and social distancing can be a challenge to enforce.

“It’s tough when you’re dealing with school-age children who like to socialize in a positive way,” Everett said. “They are friends. They lean on each other. Interacting is part of being human. … It’s a difficult task.”

But, Everett says, providing a safe environment is a priority so students can feel secure and they can grow academically and have good social-emotional development. That’s why the school continues to promote vaccination. “We’re hoping that we’re getting more and more people to vaccinate,” he said. “That is the message we’re trying to promote.”

What seems inevitable, Everett says, is that some students, at some point in the year, will come in close contact with a positive case. If they are not vaccinated, they will be required to quarantine. If they are vaccinated, they won’t.

That is the heart of the no masking vs. quarantine argument, he says, when some people have made the priority going back to school without a mask.

“Those two ideologies are butting heads with one another,” he said.

As developments unfold, Everett has a request, given the nature of the dilemma and the strong feelings involved.

“I’d ask our parents to be patient and have some grace.”