Will County Gazette

Parents of high school student-athletes should sue Illinois' Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for restricting school sports over the COVID-19 pandemic and ask for a refund on their property taxes, according to Will County Republican Central Committee Chair George Pearson.

“Every student that has been working on a football scholarship to try and get a better education, their parents all need to sue the governor and tell him to pay for their continuing education,” Pearson told the Will County Gazette. “Every single one of these parents who are sending their children to a private school to get them into a good college need to line up and sue the governor. Add on a few of these politicians that have allowed the governor to continue along this reckless course of action.” 

Pearson made the remarks in response to Pritzker's recent announcement of limitations on high school contact sports just as the Illinois High School Association board of directors was preparing to issue a 2020-21 schedule, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Traditional fall sports such as football and boys' soccer have been moved to a February-May schedule.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker | File photo

“If private schools are receiving state funds, they are subject to some of the rules and that's a problem,” said Pearson, whose daughter attends a private Christian school. “I want my tax money back come next year. I want a refund because if the schools aren't open, why are parents paying this money in property taxes? Seventy-eight percent of my property tax bill here in Monee goes to the local school district.”

According to state COVID-19 guidelines, football, boxing, wrestling, competitive cheerleading and dance are limited to no-contact practices and training. Activities are classified into either high-risk, medium-risk or low-risk, and Levels 1, 2, 3 or 4.

For example, high-risk sports can play at Level 1 while medium-risk sports can play at Level 1 and 2. Medium-risk sports include basketball, soccer, water polo, flag football, wheelchair basketball and volleyball.

Pearson, whose daughter is involved in bowling, cheerleading and volleyball, says private schools will be affected because they often compete against some public schools. 

“My daughter goes back to school Aug. 24, so she will have in-person learning at private school,” Pearson said. “While all these public school parents are going to be forced to help homeschool their children and the teacher unions are fighting to prevent parents from seeing what they're teaching the children, I don't have that worry. That’s if I can get back to work to pay the private school tuition because the state has shut down and, as a result, most of my business has shut down.”

As of Aug. 15, 204,519 coronavirus cases and 7,726 fatalities were reported overall in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Health. In Will County, there were 9,804 reported COVID-19 cases and 348 deaths.