Carbondale Reporter

State Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona) recently voiced his support for a judge's ruling that will end COVID-19 mandates in Illinois. 

According to WCIA News, a Sangamon County judge has issued a temporary restraining order against Gov. J.B.  Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health and multiple school districts across the state, eliminating the requirement to enforce the mask mandate for students or require staff to be vaccinated or tested.  

"Last week’s ruling is a victory for our students, teachers, and school districts in general," Jacobs wrote on his website. "I have long advocated that these public health decisions be left to local officials. I support wearing a mask if you want to, but I don’t think the government has the right to dictate that you do. I am happy for our school kids, who for more than 700 days have not had a ‘normal’ day of school."

"It is my hope that the governor would follow the lead of other states, and drop his unilateral mandates related to the virus. In the case of schools in particular, the governor should drop his mandates-first policies, and withdraw his appeal to this ruling," Jacobs said. "The people of Illinois have had enough. It is long past time that we unmask our kids and get them back to a normal footing in our schools."

Pritzker plans to fight this decision and file an appeal.

"The grave consequence of this misguided decision is that schools in these districts no longer have sufficient tools to keep students and staff safe while COVID-19 continues to threaten our communities – and this may force schools to go remote," Pritzker said in a statement, according to WCIA. "This shows yet again that the mask mandate and school exclusion protocols are essential tools to keep schools open and everyone safe."

Judge Raylene Grischow sided with parents who sued 146 school districts over the state’s mask mandate, plus staff who sued another 21 districts over Pritzker’s vaccine requirement, WGLT reported. In those cases, staff who declined to get vaccinated also objected to the alternative regular COVID testing requirement, claiming it was tantamount to a forced medical procedure.

"IDPH passed the buck to schools so as not not trigger the due process protections under [state law]," Grischow wrote, according to WGLT. "IDPH cannot delegate its duties and responsibilities to ISBE and then stand on the sidelines with its hands in the air, saying, 'it wasn’t us. We didn’t exclude kids. We didn’t mandate vaccines. We didn’t implement a mask mandate…the schools did.'"

Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery is recommending that school districts continue to follow the safety agreements in union contracts which were renegotiated after Pritzker’s vaccine mandate was announced.