The Fifth District Appellate Court at Mt. Vernon has vacated a temporary restraining order that had blocked the Greenville-based Bond County Community School District from requiring five students from two families to wear masks as mandated by the Governor.
This is the first ruling by the Appellate Court on lawsuits brought against several area school districts for requiring the wearing of masks.
The appellate justices found Bond County Judge Ronald Foster Junior abused his discretion in entering the temporary restraining order against the school district because it failed to name the Governor, Illinois State Board of Education, and Illinois Department of Public Health as defendants to the action. The appellate justices note the state officials would be materially affected by a judgment entered in their absence and their participation is required for the court to reach a decision protecting the school district’s interest in following the mandates of the Governor, IDPH, and ISBE to avoid any repercussions from those parties. In addition, the Appellate Court found the state participation in any temporary restraining order is required because they are an additional source of enforcement of the mask mandate.
As a result, the appellate court ruled the temporary restraining order was entered without jurisdiction over the necessary parties and therefore is void and must be vacated. The case is being returned to Bond County Court for further proceedings. The ruling notes they are vacating the TRO for failure to add necessary parties, but are making no opinion on the merits of the case itself.
The Bond County school district had appealed to the Appellate Court for clarification.
The case was filed by Greenville Attorney Thomas Devore who has filed similar lawsuits against a number of area school districts, including Odin and South Central. Devore delayed action on a temporary restraining order in those cases after the state strengthened the language in the public health code noting the need for everyone to wear masks at most times while inside school buildings.
