Unity’s season-opening volleyball match will not happen due to mask policy

MENDON, Ill. — The blowback from Community Unit School District No. 4’s decision to remain mask optional is impacting the district’s athletic programs.

The Unity girls volleyball team was scheduled to play its season opener Tuesday at home against Griggsville-Perry, but because of CUSD No. 4’s mask policy, Griggsville-Perry will not play the match. Illinois High School Association assistant executive director Matt Troha confirmed Tuesday the outcome of the match will be listed as a no-contest.

According to Troha, by ruling it a no-contest, “it doesn’t require a school to use one of its dates, so it could potentially reschedule the contest or add another opponent in their place.”

Unity superintendent Scott Riddle did not return phone calls seeking comment.

A special meeting of the CUSD No. 4 school board has been called for 6 p.m. Wednesday. The volleyball team is expected to play host to Quincy Notre Dame on Wednesday with the varsity match scheduled to begin at approximately 7 p.m.

QND plans to play all three matches scheduled that night — freshman, junior varsity and varsity — and Cash said no other schools have announced they would not play matches or games scheduled with the Mustangs.

Schools with games scheduled later in the season are taking a wait-and-see approach for now. 

The IHSA Board of Directors ruled at Monday’s monthly meeting schools schools “will not be allowed to participate in state series for a sport if they (are) on Illinois State Board of Education probation for non-compliance with the (state’s) mask mandate.”

Griggsville-Perry superintendent Kent Hawley said it was an administrative decision made in the best interest of the students in his district not to play the match. Hawley said the goal of the Griggsville-Perry administration is to provide the best opportunity for their student-athletes to excel within the guidelines the state has mandated.

On August 4, the CUSD No. 4 school board voted 5-2 to defy Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decree masks would be required for all students, teachers and staff for Pre-K to 12 students across Illinois regardless of vaccination status.

At last week’s board meeting, after the district was one of about 30 school districts put on probation for refusing to follow the governor’s order, a vote ended with a 3-3 deadlock, which wasn’t enough to reverse the original decision. One board member, Jessica Humke, was absent due to illness.

The districts put on probation are in Adams, Clay, Clinton, Edwards, Effingham, Franklin, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Jefferson, Knox, Livingston, Macon, Marion, Peoria, Randolph, Wayne and Winnebago counties. Disciplinary actions began Aug. 12.

After last week’s meeting, CUSD No. 4 board president Jim Farmer told Muddy River News he expects the district will soon be contacted by Pritzker’s office. He said the district could be threatened with the loss of state funding, its taxing authority and possibly see a situation like this affect teacher retirement.

He said the state may also, at some point, not recognize Community Unit School District No. 4 as a public school district, but those kind of processes take extended periods, according to Farmer.

Farmer said the district will be working with legal counsel to determine what its next step(s) should be. He also said even though the board was divided in its vote, there was a unanimous feeling among its members.

“All of the board feels (Pritzker) has overstepped his powers with these executive orders,” Farmer said. “It seems like he is picking on people he can pick on.”