East Central Reporter

Blaine Wilhour, the Republican candidate for the Illinois House District 110 seat, recently provided a written statement regarding school closures. 

According to an October 2021 Unicef report, government-mandated lockdowns and school closures negatively impact children. The report found the closures lead to an increase in fear, stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, loss of learning, and poor physical activity and sleeping habits.

"Research from Harvard economists shows that the states that shut down their schools the longest saw especially extended shutdowns for low-income districts," Wilhour said. "The end result is students have fallen behind. The closure of schools did tremendous harm to students, and we really have not been able to answer if these shutdowns were in any way necessary.

"We need to consider the full repercussions of the decisions being at the state level and we need to make sure there are good reasons for the decisions we make. Throughout the entire pandemic, I made numerous attempts to get answers on the rationale for the policies being implemented and these questions were routinely ignored. When decisions are made to close schools, force kids to wear masks, and even require them to wear masks while competing in sports, there ought to be some quantifiable reasons why these decisions were made. We never got explanations. We only received ultimatums. Moving forward, we need to do better and put the interests of kids and their families first."

Total enrollment in pre-K-12 schools in Illinois declined by 3.6%, or roughly 70,000 students, during the 2020-2021 school year, according to Capitol News Illinois.

“Chronic absenteeism increased during that school year, with 22.8% of all Illinois students missing 10% or more of all school days,” Illinois State Board of Education's Research and Evaluation Officer Brenda Dixon said to Capitol News Illinois. “We know from national studies from the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that school districts serving primarily Black and Hispanic students provided the least access to in-person learning last year. We suspect that less access to in-person learning contributed to lower engagement among Black and Hispanic students.”  

The number of students who exhibited grade-level competence in math and English language arts decreased, with 17.8% fewer students demonstrating proficiency in math, and 16.6% fewer students demonstrating proficiency in English. 

"Parents in my district have been strongly opposed to school closures," Wilhour said. "They understand the risks of COVID-19 are minimal for kids and they want their children to be in school.

"There is no reason for school officials in Springfield and Chicago to make these decisions. These decisions are best up to parents and the local school board."

In March, the ISBE announced a $17 million grant to establish a supplemental-learning program for students impacted by school closures, according to a release. The program will be geared specifically toward low-income students.  

Illinois Policy reports that school districts that offered more in-person learning saw smaller declines in enrollment than schools that used mostly remote learning.