North Cook News

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) is calling on Evanston High School District 202 to cease masking its students. 

The school district made the move Monday (May 16) to mask its 3,700-plus student population, which is at odds with state law on the matter.

“I have said all along the mandates are not about public health, but rather they are about control, and what is happening in Evanston is just another example of authoritarians using a public health situation as a means of accumulating more power,” Bailey said. “School board members at Evanston Township High School know full well they do not have the authority to issue this mandate and yet they are doing it anyway.” 

Bailey said the school also encourages students to hold each other in "loving accountability."

“In other words, they want people to snitch on each other which is a typical authoritarian move. If students are busy turning each other into the thought police, they have no time left to question the authoritarian policies or the people enforcing these authoritarian policies. I call on Evanston Township High School to put the interests of students ahead of their extreme far-left agenda and stop enforcing their illegal mask mandate,” he said.

While just a few school districts have reversed their positions on masking, the vast majority appear to be following court judgments stating that the practice is unlawful. Only local health authorities, not school officials, are allowed to impose such quarantine regulations under state law.

"All ETHS students and staff – regardless of vaccination status – will be required to wear masks indoors at this time. Should conditions change, ETHS will adjust and communicate updates," the notice said, North Cook News reported.

When he removed his mask on the Senate floor in May 2020, Bailey was one of the first in the state to challenge masking, according to SE Illinois News.

Mask regulations contradict scholarly results. In April, a study of 35 European countries was published noting that "countries with high levels of mask compliance did not perform better than those with low mask usage,” Cureus reported.