Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker says court ruling on school COVID rules ‘cultivates chaos’
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said a Sangamon County judge’s ruling to grant a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of COVID-19 mitigations, like masks and vaccines, “cultivates chaos” for school districts.
Judge Raylene Grischow granted temporary restraining orders in two lawsuits on Friday. One is for a student case regarding masks and quarantines in schools, and the other is for school employees, including teachers, regarding the requirement to either get the COVID vaccine or submit to weekly testing.
In nearly 170 school districts, the students and staff named as plaintiffs in the suits will not have to follow those mandates. Grischow declined to certify the lawsuits as a class action, which means that the temporary restraining order will not extend to anyone not named as a plaintiff.
During an unreleated press conference on Monday, Pritzker urged the schools not named as defendants in the lawsuits to continue to follow the guidance issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
In the fall, Pritzker issued executive orders for universal masking in schools and required school employees to either be vaccinated or get tested regularly.
Monday, he said such measures are “common sense” and that failing to practice them will lead to more cases in schools and, as a consequence, more remote learning days.
“It constrains the ability of the named school districts to maintain safe, in-person learning requirements, as if kids need a minute more of remote learning when there are common sense tools we have to reduce and prevent it,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker has asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to appeal Grischow’s ruling.
When asked which metrics he’s using to determine if mask mandates are still necessary, Pritzker said hospitalizations. In January, Illinois COVID hospitalizations peaked at 7,380 patients, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Last summer, mitigations were rolled back when the number of state-wide hospitalizations dropped. On June 11, when mask requirements were lifted, there were 684 hospitalizations.
In her ruling, Grischow said that the legislature had had time to change the law if they so desired.
The Belleville News-Democrat asked local legislators for comment and asked what type of legislation regarding masks in schools they would support or oppose.
Here’s what they had to say in email statements:
State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville: “My immediate concern is for the teachers who have been receiving threats regarding masks and the tone of discourse surrounding the attempts to keep our community safe. Violence and intimidation cross a line, and it’s incumbent on all of us to denounce that - especially those leading these lawsuits and the politicians cheering them.”
State Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville: “Since March of 2020, Governor Pritzker has and continues to ignore input from the legislature concerning his covid policies. The legislature should have the opportunity to weigh in, however, his Democrat allies controlling the House and Senate won’t help us stop this governor. When Pritzker announced his school mask mandate at the start of the 2021 school year, my Republican colleagues and I sponsored HR 416 to reinstate local control and allow duly elected school board members to make decisions on COVID-19 mitigation efforts that best fit the community and school districts in which they serve. The decision to make our children mask-up should not be made unilateral by our Governor. These decisions should be made by local officials. As I have said before, I trust my local elected school boards with this decision more than I trust the decision made by our governor.”
This story will be updated as more local legislators return request for comment.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 11:26 AM.