I started at Illini West on June 1st. There's a lot to take in when you start a new job, but the one thing that stood out to me was the work ethic of our student-athletes and our coaches over the summer Get to work at 6 AM, they're already in the weight room or on the field. Stay late. Yep. They're in the weight room, on the track, and in the gym. I'm not sure I spent a minute on the job during the summer when there wasn't one of our coaches or student-athletes putting in some work (and parents getting up even earlier to get them there).
So what's the work ethic of our coaches and student-athletes got to do with masking requirements at our events? Well, as you may already know, the ability of our teams to realize the benefits of that hard work is in jeopardy if we don't mask up at school and at our games.
Trust me when I say that I'm acutely aware that many of you are not supportive of the executive orders requiring masks and feel that schools should not support or enforce them. I can tell you this, there is absolutely no one on the IW team that gets up in the morning and says to themself "I can't wait to get to work and enforce the masking policy". But the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has made it clear that not having a mask policy in place jeopardizes our team's ability to compete. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has made it clear that not enforcing the policy jeopardizes our team's ability to compete, and that includes extracurricular events.
I know some of you will feel that I or our Board should have done more, but I can say with all sincerity that we have exhausted the options currently available to us that did not impose a penalty upon our teams. As we all know, this issue is bigger than just sports, but sports turned out to be the issue that gets moved to the front of the line due to the timing of the IHSA decision.
I know that some of you will choose our school district as the vehicle to express your displeasure with the executive orders, the Board, or me. I accept this and I respect your right to do so. If you do make that choice, I am asking that you choose something other than our extracurricular events to do so. We have school board meetings where you can provide public input. Come to my office and yell at me. Whatever you choose, please choose something that will not remove the focus at extracurricular events from our student-athletes and distract from the hard work they, and our coaches, have put in.
To that end, we will be taking a non-confrontational approach to enforcing the masking requirement with our IW spectators to minimize distractions during the contest.
We will notify all spectators that masks are required to gain entry to our events and that they are required to be worn throughout the contest. We will make multiple announcements during the contest to reinforce this. If a spectator is observed not following the masking requirement, the administrator on duty will approach the visitor not in compliance and respectfully request the spectator to put on his/her face covering. If the spectator complies, the issue is done. If the spectator does not comply, the administrator will explain that if he/she continues to not wear the face-covering he/she will be suspended from attending extracurricular activities in our building for 30 calendar days following the event pursuant to Board Policy 8:30 - Visitors to and Conduct on School Property. At this point, the administrator will have no further interactions with the spectator. The spectator has been informed of the consequences and the spectator knows the consequences of not wearing the face covering. The spectator will receive an official letter of notification that he/she has been suspended. The letter will explain that he/she will have the opportunity to appeal the suspension to the Board of Education.
This practice will be in place effective immediately for all indoor meetings and events, including activities and board meetings. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.