Sycamore School District 427 parents publicly urging the school board to make masks optional again made up the majority of those who addressed board members at the Tuesday meeting. Sycamore Superintendent Steve Wilder said the risks outweigh the rewards if the district were to defy the state mandate.

“We will follow the mandate effective immediately,” said Sycamore Superintendent Steve Wilder. Both Sycamore and Genoa-Kingston districts, which previously approved optional masks, will now comply with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s new mandate requiring masks indoors in public schools statewide regardless of vaccination status.