Dupage Policy Journal

Deanne Mazzochi, the Republican candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives District 45 race, 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.

"I think data now out shows has been very damaging for kids, particularly for kids that were already behind," Mazzochi said. "I don't think anyone is out there saying our kids benefitted academically from this."

"We know it put tremendous stress on families everywhere, especially working moms that count on our schools to be there for them. they felt abandoned and with good reason," she said. 

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 School 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. 

"To the extent schools want to have COVID policies they should be done at the local level with people that have to be the most accountable to parents," Mazzochi said. "The Democratic legislative sat on their hands through this and ignored the will and wishes of parents. We also can't ignore that a lot of what Gov. Pritzker did put incredible financial pressure on our schools for things that didn't work at all."

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.