West Central Reporter

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Illinois) said it is time to reopen schools in Illinois, given that the understanding about COVID-19 and its health impact has grown in the last 12 months.

While some school districts are educating students entirely through remote learning, others have a hybrid model. However, no schools operate entirely in-person.

“The learning levels, the education levels that kids are falling behind on, and also the mental health and increased suicide rate of students is devastating,” Davis said, Alton Daily News reported. “It is time for everyone to step up, to do what we know is safe and get these kids back in school where the data clearly shows that they need to be and that it can be done safely.”

Schools closed to in-person learning in March 2020 as the novel coronavirus spread. By April, Gov. J.B. Pritzker had ordered schools to remain closed due to the pandemic. The Illinois Department of Education worked to find a solution.

Now, nearly a year into the pandemic, Davis is calling for students to return to in-person learning and for parents to look at who is on the school boards, particularly in districts that aren’t working toward instruction delivered in the classrooms.

The Alton Daily News reported that Davis said research proves that schools are not super-spreaders for COVID-19 and that he hopes Pritzker will make changes to policies that are keeping kids out of schools now that vaccines for COVID-19 are becoming more widely available.

On Feb. 11, Davis hosted a virtual listening session with school administrators from two dozen school districts across the 13th congressional district.

The discussion included what each district needed to transition back to in-classroom learning, and according to a news release from Davis’ office, three things came up in the forum: funding, public health guidance, and vaccines.