NOON UPDATE: Fresh off the Appellate Court’s dismissal of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s effort to keep his school mask mandate in place, his office plans to ask Attorney General Kwame Raoul to appeal the issue at the Illinois Supreme Court.

"The governor is disappointed in the Appellate Court’s decision and concerned for the health of those in schools—particularly vulnerable children and adults—and the ability to continue in-person learning,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in an emailed statement. “The administration is working with the attorney general to request an expedited review of this decision from the Supreme Court.”

The lower court "made it clear that school districts can continue to keep their own mitigations in place," the statement said.

The mask mandate will continue to stay in place at Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union said, due to a January agreement that is not affected by the recent court rulings.

Earlier:

(Bloomberg) —An Illinois appellate court dismissed Governor J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling against his mask mandate in schools, calling the request “moot” after a legislative committee suspended the requirement’s renewal.

On Thursday, the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court rejected the appeal, noting that the state’s department of public health on Feb. 14 had renewed the emergency rules, originally enacted in September 2021, but that a legislative committee had then suspended that renewal this week.