WHY TAKE ACTION:
BREAKING - Discovered via FOIA: In September 2021, the Governor's office, The Attorney General's office, the IL Education Association (teacher union), Sangamon County State's Attorney, and educational leadership throughout the state ALL knew that schools could NOT quarantine student's without a court order.
CALL TO ACTION: Email JCAR members (emails below) before next week's meeting demanding full suspension of the following entry in the Illinois Register: Rules of Governmental Agencies, filed May 6, 2022, which they'll be reviewing at next week’s meeting.
To stop this criminal cycle of government overreach, please use the following template to send to JCAR NOW.
JCAR EMAILS (and Awake IL email for record)
Copy/paste all into email:
office@repkeithwheeler.org senatorcurran@gmail.com ildistrict33@gmail.com klightford@senatedem.ilga.gov
amunoz@senatedem.ilga.gov demmer@ilhousegop.org senatorrezin@gmail.com rephalpin@gmail.com repfranhurley@gmail.com reick@ilhousegop.org office@repcurtisjtarverii.com
EMAIL TEMPLATE (h/t Jessica Hockett for template) to copy/paste - see insert suggestions in RED:
Dear Members of JCAR, I’m calling you to action regarding an entry in the Illinois Register: Rules of Governmental Agencies, filed May 6, 2022, which you’ll be reviewing at next week’s meeting. On page 6969, the Illinois Department of Public Health makes a statement that warrants your objection: "Schools continue to have long-standing authority to address confirmed, suspected and contacts of infectious disease cases, including COVID-19, independent of the emergency rule-making and Executive Order 2022-03.” (p. 6969) This claim cites no section of the IL school code, and no part of the communicable diseases code. The word “address” is particularly problematic, as it allows for broad, errant interpretation by ISBE, local school boards, and local HDs. These unprecedented, widespread close-contact quarantines that IDPH has used have harmed thousands of children in this state.
[INSERT story of your student/s being told to quarantine by the school . What was the experience like for your family? What impact did it have on your child?] If existing laws don’t provide legislators with enough clarity about a school’s authority, then new laws must be passed - laws that protect better protect student privacy and right to an in-person education. At minimum, please call IDPH in front of your committee next week, and ask agency staff to explain their understanding of exactly what schools can and can’t do, under the law, and why. You may need to call ISBE staff as well. Schools must stop accusing children of exposure (see article https://brownstone.org/articles/is-it-a-crime-to-be-exposed/). Illinois parents should not be faced with even another week, let alone another year, of misguided, unlawful protocols that needlessly disrupt their children’s in-person education. Please act. Regards,
[INSERT NAME HERE]