Rep. Tom Bennett | Facebook
Rep. Tom Bennett | Facebook
A coalition of bipartisan legislators appealed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and IDPH Director Dr. Ngoze Ezike to loosen restrictions to allow families and friends to attend school athletic functions.
State Rep. Tom Bennett joined the coalition and has released a statement about this.
“Many of our local high school sports teams have re-started their seasons as coronavirus cases have declined in our area,” Bennett said. “But they are still playing in front of nearly empty stands instead of friends and family.”
The coalition claimed that safety precautions set by local school officials and athletes can be duplicated when allowing fans to watch events.
“We have learned from conversations with school officials involved with the planning and execution of hosting extracurricular activities that there have in fact not been major viral outbreaks resulting from allowing previously prohibited extracurricular activities,” the letter read.
“We feel that allowing fans at a capacity of 25% can be accomplished following stated guidelines for mask-wearing and appropriate social distancing of 6 feet.”
The Illinois High School Association, the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Association of School Administrators, the Illinois Association of Athletic Directors, and the Illinois Principals Association joined the lawmakers in the letter of appeal.
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