Illinois Education Association Calls on School Districts to Wait for Appellate Court Ruling Before Making Decisions on COVID Safety Measures

 

[February 10, 2022]   The following is attributable to Illinois Education Association (IEA) Vice President Al Llorens regarding the ruling by Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow on the temporary restraining order (TRO) that would prohibit enforcement of face masks, vaccination, and Covid testing mandates:

“Our students thrive on consistency and the last two years have been anything, but consistent. We do not want another disruption to our students’ learning while we are still working to bridge the learning gap created by the pandemic.

"That’s why we believe our school districts should not make any rash decisions changing COVID safety requirements until after this process plays out in our court system. Our educators should be focused on their students - not worrying about health and safety. We’ve been able to keep our schools open with these safety measures in place.

"We know that in person learning is the best way for our students to learn and we should be doing everything we can to continue to meet in person. While we wait for the appellate court’s decision, we think it’s important to focus on working with parents to provide our students the best education possible.

"The only way we got through the last two years was by working together, and we need to continue to do so. Our students deserve a team of parents, community members, educators and other stakeholders behind them.”

[Bridget Shanahan
Media Relations Dir.]