CHICAGO — Thousands of students at scores of school districts across the state may no longer be required to wear a mask in the classroom, with an Illinois judge ruling Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mandate was authorized illegally. Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Friday granted a request from downstate attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governor’s executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools, finding that the measures are beyond the governor’s authority and deprive students of due process. “This court acknowledges the tragic toll the COVID-19 …
