South Cook News

Republican gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) is standing with Doc Mathius, the south side Catholic school principal fired for letting his students go mask-optional.

He's also slamming the Archdiocese of Chicago’s continued forced masking in schools.

"The Archdiocese of Chicago is wrong and misguided and should apologize and reinstate Queen of Martyrs Principal M. Jacob "Doc" Mathius immediately," Bailey said, in a written statement. "He stood with parents to stand up for thousands of children by making masks optional."

"Since the beginning, I have supported local control and stood against Pritzker's tyrannical mandates. I stand with Doc Mathius doing what is right for children and making masks optional. It's time to end forced child abuse and restore freedom and common sense across Illinois," Bailey said.

Parents rallied over the weekend to reinstate Queen of Martyrs Principal Doc Mathius.

Mathius, a lifelong educator with five decades in the profession, was removed as principal of the Queen of Martyrs School a week ago after opening the school as mask-optional.

Mathius said he decided to make the school mask optional on his own after he failed to recognize a kindergartner when she had her mask off.

Parents are petitioning to get Mathius reinstated.

The Archdiocese has continued to require masking in schools despite a court order noting the practice’s unconstitutionality and a Tuesday meeting by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules who voted against continuing the practice.

On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker attempted to subvert the court ruling but was stopped in 9-0-2 by the JCAR.

Even after Pritzker's statewide student school mask requirement was declared "null and void" by a state court judgment, Chicago Catholic Schools Superintendent Greg Richmond said allowing students to attend class without a mask is not a good idea as it "would create confusion and disruption in our schools."

In a growing number of schools, parents have begun sending students to school without masks, regardless of whether the schools have changed policies or not.

Parents should remove their children from the classrooms of Illinois Catholic school officials who are breaching state law by forcing them to wear masks, according to Brian Burch,  the leader of Catholic Vote, one of the nation's major Catholic activist organizations.