Rock Island Today

State Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) said Governor J.B. Pritzker's refusal to lift mask mandates for schools show he is not on the side of the people.

Anderson said Pritzker is following political guidelines, not science,

“If we’ve learned anything from today’s announcement, it’s that we have now found out who the ‘scientists’ are that the Governor has been following—it’s the other Democrat politicians across the country. It’s clear that Pritzker’s rules have always been about politics, not science,”  he wrote.

Pritzker announced Wednesday afternoon that he could lift the mask mandate for places of business on Feb. 28, but that he would still require them for schools. That's five days after a Sangamon County judge declared his statewide "emergency" school mandate school rules "null and void.”

Anderson said Pritzker’s mandate on children just does not mask sense.

“The Governor’s desire to make a point and win a court case is clearly driving his decision to maintain a mask mandate for our children in our schools,” he said, “How is it safe for others to not wear a mask, but the least vulnerable population among us have to continue to wear a mask? Nothing this man does makes any sense and Illinoisans are sick and tired of being dictated be someone who leads by politics.”

Since, more than 200 public school districts across Illinois and most Catholic ones-- outside of those in Cook and Lake Counties-- have already announced they are "mask optional.”

In Rock Island County, mask-optional districts include Sherrard CUSD 200. 



In Whiteside County, mask-optional districts include Sterling CUSD 5, Morrison CUSD 6, River Bend CUSD 2, Rock Falls ESD 13, Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico CUSD3, Erie CUSD 1 and Montmorency CCSD 145. 



In Mercer County, mask-optional districts include Mercer County School District 404.

In Henry County, mask-optional districts include Orion CUSD 223 and Cambridge CUSD 227.

Dan Montgomery, President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said Saturday that students going mask-less is "threat to public health" and that it prevents "normalcy at school.”

“We believe that what the judge ordered today is legally faulty and a threat to public health and, most importantly, a threat to keeping Illinois schools open for in-person learning," Montgomery said. "Our children and their families need certainty and some normalcy at school, not legal wrangling managed by a small minority of citizens."