DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – Coaches from two Central Illinois communities took part in a virtual town hall to discuss a class action lawsuit to get high school athletes back to competing.
The town hall was hosted on Facebook Live by Republican Rep. Dan Caulkins and featured Maora-Forsyth football and track coach Josh Jostes, along with Warrensburg-Latham volleyball coach Traci Dyer Townsend.
The two are supporting the class action lawsuit being filed in DuPage County. The athletes and their parents who are filing the suit are seeking a temporary restraining order against the state’s order to cancel fall sports. Currently, Illinois is the only Midwest state to not allow them.
"I don't see why Illinois does not follow suit with that,” Jostes said. “The data being provided so far is that COVID cases are not spiking because of high school sports."
The concern goes beyond athletics. The coaches were also joined by Christopher Weisenborn, the Maroa-Forsyth middle and high school choir director. He said the changes are impacting his students' performance with academics.
"We will see and we are seeing some of our remote learners really struggling, because this is not how they are used to learning," he said.
All three of the educators are pushing for things to return to normal and point to no cases of COVID-19 in the students they have seen participating in extra curriculars.
Attorney Thomas DeVore, who also took part in the town hall, said he believes the suit will be filed in the next day and a hearing could be heard this week.
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