See You In Court: Large Scale Action Planned Against Gov. Pritzker
Groups from multiple Chicagoland school districts join forces to challenge mandates by the governor and state agencies
Money is being raised in several Chicagoland school districts to join a consolidated action against Governor J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health, The Kerr Report has learned.
Tom DeVore, an attorney based in downstate Greenville, IL, plans to file the action within the next week to 10 days.
“We want to consolidate it all into one case,” DeVore told The Kerr Report by phone Friday. “Parents and teachers in individual school districts, if they want to join on behalf of other school districts and put into one big case.”
The consolidated action of numerous school districts against Pritzker and the state agencies would be the first of its kind involving Chicagoland school districts.
Several individual cases have been filed by DeVore’s firm on behalf of plaintiffs in downstate Illinois. Wednesday, a judge in Effingham County ruled against ISBE in restoring recognition status to Beecher City and Cowden-Herrick school districts. ISBE had put the Central Illinois districts on probation for implementing a mask optional policy, a policy in violation of Pritzker’s August school mask mandate.
Last week, a lawsuit was filed in Kane County on behalf of four educators seeking to stop Pritzker’s statewide vaccine mandate for teachers.
But the large scale aspect of this action, involving three of the largest school districts by enrollment in Chicagoland, is unprecedented.
There are two separate legal issues at the core of the action that involve both students and teachers, according to DeVore.
“The masking of children and or the exclusion of children from school (quarantine) because of some alleged close contact,” DeVore said. “The other is the vaccination mandate for teachers.”
The legal catalyst for the action is an appellate court decision made last week in Bond County, IL.
That case, made in the 5th District Appellate Court, vacated a temporary restraining order granted in September that schools could not enforce masking or quarantines without parental consent. The district appealed the ruling and on Oct. 1, a judge vacated the TRO because the plaintiffs in the case “failed to name the Governor, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) as party defendants,” according to the court ruling.
DeVore said the ruling gave a path forward for an amended complaint that includes Pritzker and state agencies.
“(The court) said we are not saying the court’s legal analysis is wrong. What we are saying is the governor and state board of heath and education need to be parties in this case,” DeVore said. “If parents or teachers want to raise the argument that their districts can’t have these policies, we are offering to represent action against the district.”
Parental groups representing three large-unit Chicagoland school districts have raised funds for the purpose of joining the action - Indian Prairie (D204), Wheaton (D200) and Naperville (D203), TKR has learned. Others, including groups based out of Mt. Prospect and Arlington Heights, are in the process of raising funds in order to be added to the complaint. DeVore’s firm, the Silver Lake Group, requires a $5,000 flat fee for parties interested in joining the consolidated action.
As of Friday, two groups - Indian Prairie and Naperville - had completed the application process needed to be added, according to DeVore.
DeVore said he hopes to have all parties involved known by Oct. 13. He has already notified the Illinois State’s Attorney Office of plans to file the complaint by Oct. 18.
“There is a certain window which I can get things going and have all the parties involved in it,” DeVore said. “I need to know by (Oct. 13) who is interested and have agreements in place with parents and teachers within those districts by then.”
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How can I contact Thomas DeVore about taking a case on for Woodland School in Rural Streator, IL ? They are definitely abusing power that they Think they have, the little children from Pre K to 6 the grade are being made to wear masks ! Everyone surely have heard that the Mask does Nothing to Protect the children, but the mask can, and Will cause Bacterial pheumonia !! I am assuming that Woodland School , with it's 500 students, must be following The National COVID 19 Policy,. Written by , the WHO !!!!
Do the Dear People of Illinois know and Understand that there are FEMA Camps being set up everywhere in this state ?!
Call your School and ASK, See if the School is using The COVID 19 National Policy, if they are, They ARE NOT going to call every single parent to tell them what day the vaxed are happening on, nor are they going to Continue Everyone and ASK for their Permission ! The People that have their children in School right now better Not count on the School Admit or Anyone for that matter, contacting them at ALL !
It would Probably be be a Good the Idea to PULL your Children OUT and Home School them, NOW, before that Right is taken AWAY Also !
They DON'T CARE about THE CHILDREN, They CARE about The HUGE Landfall of BRIBERY Money going into Their Pockets, Believe Me, this IS NOT about The CHILDREN at ALL !