Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker orders schools to stay closed through academic year
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday that he’s ordering schools across the state to stay closed through the end of the academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve said time and time again, our decisions must follow the science, and the science says our students can’t go back to their normal routine this school year,” he said at his daily news briefing.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, also announced that the state is reporting 1,842 new coronavirus cases since Thursday, its largest increase in a 24-hour period. In addition, 62 additional deaths were attributed to COVID-19.
That brings totals to 27,575 confirmed cases and 1,134 deaths in Illinois. Some 130,163 coronavirus tests have been administered, according to the Public Health website.
“For people who are experiencing illness and want to get tested, I do want to alert that we do have increased testing capacity,” Ezike said Friday. “Go to dph.illinois.gov/covid19 to find sites where you can get tested.”
Pritzker praised school districts in Illinois for their creativity and skill in developing remote-learning systems since March 17, when he closed public and private schools to help slow the coronavirus spread. He mentioned a few by name, including Red Bud and Staunton in the metro-east.
Pritzker mentioned that Red Bud Community Unit School District 132 is one that distributed electronic devices to students who didn’t already have them at home.
“Red Bud honored its graduating seniors on social media and offered area parents the opportunity to hear directly from Red Bud administrators on Facebook Live,” he said.
Pritzker’s initial stay-at-home order was set to expire April 7. He extended that until April 30 and has indicated he might extend it again to sometime in May.
By shutting down school buildings for the rest of the academic year, Illinois joins 27 states and three U.S. territories that have either ordered or recommended the same action, Education Week reported. This is impacting more than 25 million students.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker orders schools to stay closed through academic year."
