CLINTON — Clinton teacher and parent Shelby Shipley spoke to the Clinton Board of Education at its Oct. 19 meeting to share how mask-wearing is affecting her children’s health and asked the district to participate in the “Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.”

This act allows individuals to make healthcare decisions for themselves and their children verses a mandate from the state. 

“If we use the health care consciousness act, what will happen to us?” asked Shipley.

“I don’t have exact answers to those questions,” Superintendent Curt Nettles responded. “A lot of the lawyers interpret these things differently. The insurance companies are still interpreting it the same way as they did back in August when they told us we’d have no coverage if we didn’t follow the mandate.”

Nettles said he had taken notes on Shipley’s comments and would look further into some of the things she said. 

Later in the meeting, Nettles said he spoke to the Illinois State Board of Education earlier in the day requesting some guidelines and specific plans to allow areas of the state with lighter virus numbers to adjust accordingly. 

• See the complete story in the Friday, Oct. 29, print edition of the Clinton Journal or now in the Journal E-Edition for subscribers.