A judge temporarily block Gov. J.B. Pritzker's school mask mandate. | Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema
A judge temporarily block Gov. J.B. Pritzker's school mask mandate. | Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema
State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) praised a Sangamon County court ruling that temporarily blocks Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide COVID-19 mask, vaccine, testing, and quarantine mandates in more than 140 Illinois school districts.
“For two years now, we’ve had a governor who insists on ruling through executive orders and administrative rules," Wilcox said in a statement. "In his effort to force his worldview on the residents of Illinois, he has done everything in his power to bypass any semblance of due process. Enough is enough. Illinoisans are fed up with authoritarian control and are fighting back, and I support them as they stand up to Governor J.B. Pritzker, and for what is right for their children and their communities."
Discussion and discourse, not tyranny, are what the people of Illinois need as they cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, the senator said.
“They need legislative and community engagement, not dictator-style governance," the senator said. "They need democracy, not tyranny. I have said all along that all decisions regarding COVID-19 should be made locally, by those who live and serve in our communities and understand each city and town’s unique characteristics and circumstances. And now that the courts are exposing the governor’s abuse of authority, I hope we are approaching the end of this terrible chapter in our state’s history.”
School districts affected by Judge Raylene Grischow’s temporary restraining order include Eureka #140, Prairie Central #8, Roanoke Benson #60, Morton #709, El Paso-Gridley #11, Mahomet-Seymour CUSD 3, Dunlap #323, Metamora Township High School, and Metamora Community Consolidated in central Illinois, WGLT reported.
In her 29-page ruling, Grischow said that schools named in the lawsuit cannot require students to wear masks, and districts cannot require teachers and staff to be tested or vaccinated to work. Educators in districts not named in the lawsuit are unclear about whether they are affected by the ruling, WGLT said.
Pritzker called Grischow’s temporary restraining order “out of step with the vast majority of legal analysis in Illinois and across the nation,” and filed a motion to stay the restraining order, WIFR reported.
Meanwhile, school districts statewide are developing plans on how to approach COVID mitigations, the station said.
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