An Illinois appellate court has dismissed Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a downstate judge’s order that invalidated his statewide school mask mandate, dealing a blow to one of the Democratic governor’s key COVID-19 mitigation strategies — and a victory to his Republican rivals bucking against requirements during an ebb in pandemic hospitalizations.
The ruling issued late Thursday by justices in the Fourth District Appellate Court means local school districts can impose their own mask mandates if they want to, but Pritzker administration officials can’t force them to do so, as had been the case since last summer.
