The countdown is on to 1:30 PM Friday, when room 1A at the Vermilion County Courthouse will hold a temporary restraining order hearing brought about by some Danville District 118 personnel. Attorney Bethany Hager is representing them, and she says this is about the recent Illinois State Board of Education mandate, initiated by the governor, that all school personnel must provide proof of either a COVID vaccination or a negative COVID test to keep working. Hager says, her point, and the plaintiffs’ point, is Illinois law requires something like this to be initiated locally, such as by a county health department.
AUDIO: So if it’s not the health department, and if it’s not the health department seeking a court order, then there’s not another remedy, or another realm, under Illinois law that says that teachers or anybody have to go through this process. And that, in a nutshell, is the gist of the teachers’ claim here.
One hour later at 2:30, Hager will be representing Hoopeston parents and guardians not wanting students to have to wear masks. Hager says, again, this is about local control, and she’s representing both cases, because she believes in that.
AUDIO: I just kind of have this optimism that local decision making, local control, is going to be the name of the game. At the end of the day, I believe in the power of the community to work together for solutions, and that’s what we’re going for.
Hager recently stated that she has officially applied to fill one of the two vacancies on the Danville District 118 School Board. She says, it would be a matter of standing up for what she believes in.
AUDIO: I am hopeful that local decision making, cooperation, and local control is what’s going to govern. And I just hope to be a part of furthering that in any role that is possible.
Hager says her hope for both cases is to receive a temporary injunction concerning the districts’ following of state mandates.
Earlier this week, District 118 Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddes stated that cases like this have gone various ways around the state, and District 118 will be prepared for whatever takes place.
