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A central Illinois judge issued a temporary restraining order that prevents school districts in the state from requiring students to wear masks in schools. classrooms, stating that Governor JB Pritzker exceeded his legal authority with a mask mandate that has upset parents and teachers.
In a ruling issued Friday in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of parents and teachers.
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow also determined that several more emergency orders from Pritzker to combat the spread of covid-19, including one issued last year past ordering vaccinations for school employees, are “null and void” .
“This court recognizes the tragic cost that the covid- pandemic has exacted, not only in this state but in across the country and the world,” Grischow wrote in a ruling affecting 146 Illinois school districts, including the Illinois public school system. Chicago.
“However, it is the duty of the Courts to preserve the rule of law and ensure that all the powers of the State act within the limits of the authority granted by the Constitution”, said the judge.
Pritzker was blunt with the judge’s decision and immediately made a call to the office from the state attorney general to appeal, suggesting that the ruling would cause another spike in infections and force schools to close their doors and return to online classes.
“The serious consequence of this wrong decision is that the schools of these districts already don’t have enough tools to keep students and staff safe while the covid-19 continues to threaten our communities, and this may force schools to go remote,” Pritzker said in a statement.
“This demonstrates once again that the mask mandate and school exclusion protocols are essential tools to keep schools open and everyone safe.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul agreed with Pritzker that the ruling would make it more difficult to protect students and school employees from the virus, and said he would appeal.
“This decision sends the message that not all students have the same right to safely access Illinois schools and classrooms, particularly if they have disabilities or other health problems,” Raoul said in a statement.
He also assured that the ruling prioritizes a relatively small group of plaintiffs who refuse to follow widely accepted science over the rights of other students, faculty, and staff “to enter schools without fear of contracting a virus that has claimed the lives of more than 31 ,000 residents of Illinois or bring that virus home to their loved ones.”
For his part in Chicago, Pedro Martínez, executive director of the Public Schools of that locality, issued a statement saying that CPS protocol, incl Once a mask mandate was issued for students, it would stay.
“The court ruling does not prohibit CPS from exercising its authority to continue its covid mitigation policies and procedures-19, Martínez wrote.
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