House Bill 2827 fails to pass Illinois House. Some Democrats spoke out against bill regulating Illinois homeschool practices while the sponsor says, "it is necessary to ensure homeschool children are protected."
Photo: Steven Weirather/Pixabay
A young student does research on her laptop at home. According to opponents, House Bill 2827 creates a lot of red tape for homeschooled children. It would make schools pass records up through several layers of government and require tracking down families to review what they’re teaching and whether their kids are skipping school or not. The measure failed to make it out of the Illinois House on Friday.
By Greg Bishop.::. Associate Editor The Center Square
SPRINGFIELD - Homeschool parents worried about the state of Illinois imposing regulations on the practice have a reprieve after the measure failed to advance.
House Bill 2827 accumulated tens of thousands of opponent witness slips filed against it since the measure was filed earlier this year. Sponsor, state Rep. Terra Costa Howard, D-Glen Ellyn, rose Friday to announce the bill isn’t ready, but said it is necessary to ensure homeschool children are protected.
“To the victims who are out there: We see you, we hear you and we will keep fighting for you,” she said.
Costa Howard said she was keeping the measure held on third leading into the Friday deadline to pass House bills to the Senate. She defended the measure, saying it does not mandate curriculum, but does require homeschool families to report to government officials that they homeschool, or they could face truancy charges.
“It truly is a simple form that can protect families from those nosey neighbors,” she said.
Homeschool parents worried about the state of Illinois imposing regulations on the practice have a reprieve after the measure failed to advance.
The fight isn’t over for opponents.
Tens of thousands of opponents filed witness slips against the measure since it was introduced earlier this year. Some Democrats spoke out against the measure, saying it could criminalize homeschool parents raising and teaching their children how they see fit.
Republican state Rep. Amy Elik said the bill was “doomed from the beginning.”
“A simple form was not so simple was it? It created burdens on families across Illinois, our entire school system,” Elik said, “and nobody seems to care that that was going to cost our schools and our families valuable resources that could be spent instead of fixing our public school system that often fails children.”
Elik said she’s glad the measure is being held, but she said the fight isn’t over for opponents.
“I can tell you our families still feel like they are under attack and walking on eggshells in Illinois,” she said. “That happens all the time in this chamber.”
The measure will be held, but could come back up in some fashion before the scheduled end of session May 31.
Legislators are off next week. The House returns April 22. The Senate returns April 29.
ST. JOSEPH - Last month, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced the recipients of the third quarter Honor Roll and High Honor Roll. To be recognized on the Honor Roll at SJO, students must achieve a grade point average (GPA) of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Those with a GPA exceeding 3.74 are honored as High Honor Roll students.
Freshman Honor Roll
Miles Atwood
Coleton Beckett
Evan Brown
Liam Carter
Hunter Cler
Caleb Courter
Emily Cross
Hunter Dilley
Casen Goff
George Hale
Leigha Larson
Gavin Little
Maddyx Martin
Pete Martin
Aubrey Matheny
Aiden McBride
Atleigh Miller
Hannah Nirider
Alyssa Osterbur
Lyla Patton
Leah Pruitt
Averie Puckett
Gage Ramm
Mitch Riesel
Keegan Roberts
Samantha Ryan
Marissa Smith
Addisyn Son
Dalton Trotter
Hunter Uher
Logan Umbarger
Zoe Valentine
Addison Walsh
Benjamin Wells
Sorena Welsh
Sophomore Honor Roll
Yadiel Acosta-Reyes
Samuel Albrecht
Andrew Bourland
Alec Bowlin
Willis Canamore
Jaxson Colvin
Nickolas Ditchfield
Justin Downs
Audrie Helfrich
Morgan Huls
Faith Jackson
Waylon Jones
Garrett Loschen
Tripp Palmer
Peighton Reim
William Ricketts-Royer
Lilly Sollars
Alex Vaughn
Cameron Wagner
Shelby Warns
Kaden Wedig
Cameron Wright
Junior Honor Roll
Trevor Ames
Shelby Campbell
Jacob Carlson
Cade Crozier
Caleb Dwyer
Justice Heidel
Bryanna Hood
Bryson Houchens
Amelia Huckstadt
Malachy Kates
Kylan Kincaid
Vance McComas
Emma McKinney
Garrick Page
Graham Ray
Lance Retz
Ethan Sanders
Landon Smith
Lucas Smith
Quinn Stahl
Lucas Truong
Emma Wells
Senior Honor Roll
Alex Acosta-Reyes
Jared Altenbaumer
Rylie Barton
Audrey Benoit
William Besson
Eli Birt
Macie Blakley
Landen Butts
Madison Clampitt
Hayden Coffey
Joshua Courter
Aerolyn Davenport
Lauren Dewese
Savanna Dittman
Nolan Earley
Lyla Frerichs
Joe Griebat
Mason Guido
Brodie Harms
Kendrick Johnson
Quincy Jones
Aiden Krall
Gabriel Mata
Logan Patton
Haley Rudolph
Samuel Shonkwiler
Corbin Smith
Thea Smith
Collin Thomey
Carter Turner
Reese Wheatley
Isabelle Wiese
Ava Worley
Merial Yeager
ST. JOSEPH - At the end of March, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced the recipients of the third quarter Honor Roll and High Honor Roll. To be recognized on the Honor Roll at SJO, students must achieve a grade point average (GPA) of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Those with a GPA exceeding 3.74 are honored as High Honor Roll students.
Freshman High Honor Roll
Kira Aase
Ava Alexander
Tyler Bonny
Ava Bronowski
Patrick Clark
Carly Coffey
Tessa Cox
Avarie Dietiker
Ainsley Dirksmeyer
Trey Divan
Connor Eaton
Olivia Edington
Eli Franklin
Isabella Frerichs
Ava Gallo
Conlan Gill
Brandon Grindley
Holden Hausle
Colton Heidel
Averie Helfrich
Nathan Hinkel
Kellyn Irwin
Ashlee Jannusch
Lilyah Jones
Isabel Kates
Megan Kearney
Lillyan Kelley
Addison Knight
Avery Lappin
Royce Loschen
Charles Martin
Landon May
Henry McCannon
Lane McKinney
Connor McMahon
Michaela Morrison
Mason Osterbur
Cameron Palmisano
Mara Perkins
Marissa Perkins
Miranda Perkins
Hailey Phillips
Evan Potter
Airin Rash
Kenley Ray
Abigail Reynolds
Roisin Rice
Alyssa Robinson
Jaylin Seal
Alexis Smith
Vivian Smith
Nayeli Steele
Brooklyn Stevens
Ethan Suchor
Mataya Thaman
Korinne Travis
Evelyn Valentine
Viviene Vliet
Owen Wall
Lucas Waters
Ian Wolken
Samson Zadeh
Sophomore High Honor Roll
Lillian Ahart
Zhou Barbee
Abigail Bello
Zachary Benoit
Olivia Berlatsky
Colin Burnett
Brenda Castro
Elizabeth Clark
Abigail Crider
Hayden Dahl
Iris Davis
Madison Farber
Nathaniel Farney
Nolan Franzen
Leah Gaines
Skyler Graham
Anna Hammond
Mark Harbourt
Nicholas Harris
Tyler Hess
Maggie Hewkin
Brynn Ikemire
Mia Jones
Alivia Learned
Avrianna Lyttle
Chase Mabry
Adam Marschke
Hadley McDonald
Finnegan Miller
Maddux Musselman
Steven Newman
Mason Ramm
Kiah Riesel
Dennis Rineberg
Sophie Schmitz
Ava Smoot
Adeline Stevens
Ani Stine
Isabella Turner
Brayden Waller
Jack Wear
Emerson Williams
Declan Yohnka
Dalton York
Junior High Honor Roll
Kylie Barrowman
Lexie Barrowman
Adalyn Bell
Kaitlyn Beyers
Emily Bird
Tim Blackburn-Kelley
Aiden Bonny
Addison Brooks
Sara Bytnar
William Carlson
Rudra Chaudhary
Adelyn Childers
Christopher Coffey
Katherine Ericksen
Abigail Getty
Camden Getty
Charles Hale
William Haley
Erica Hardimon
Zachary Harper
Claire Hartman
Lydia Huckstadt
Adalyn Jannusch
Kaelyn Jolley
Sophia Kasper
Madilyn Kelley
Samantha Kelso
Cooper Kietzman
Alexis Lackey
Ryker Lockhart
Mackenzie Loschen
Michael McDaniel
Danny McGinnis
Kodey McKinney
Patrick McMahon
Ava Midkiff
Ashlyn Miller
Hannah Mock
Delaney Nekolny
Allison Ochs
Brennan Oleynichak
Kayla Osterbur
Colton Overstreet
Branson Pearman
Kaleb Peoples
Grace Preston
Asher Pruemer
Ainsley Rhoton
Lily Rice
Landon Roberts
Logan Rosenthal
Amber Ruppel
Trevor Sexton
Cameron Schluter
Allison Schmitz
Gracyn Sjoken
Tao Smith
Karleigh Spain
Sydney Steinbach
Hadley Sweet
Carlee Taylor
Hunter Van Meenen
Sophia Vliet
Madeline Wells
Wyatt Wertz
Logan Xiao
Cyrus Zadeh
Senior High Honor Roll
EJ Beckett
Miles Birt
Landon Brown
Arely Castro
Richi Chimal
Preslee Christians
Ella Dietiker
Luke Ditchfield
Andrea Dominguez
Jackson Ennis
Savanna Franzen
Addison Funk
Kaiden Gaines
Tayton Gerdes
Olivia Getty
Makennah Hamilton
Lauren Harris
Haley Hesterberg
Maebree Houston
Tinley Ideus
Paige Johnson
Sara Kearney
Amilliya Kindle
Owen Knap
Jeffrey Kuchenbrod
Logan Lackey
Logan Mills
Gabriel Mortlock
Grace Osterbur
Chayse Palmer
Sonia Patel
Nathan Phillips
Sydney Reitmeier
Audrey Ruppel
Charles Schmitz
Tanner Siems
Kyler Swanson
Coy Taylor
Samantha Uden
Charley Wright
Fiona Xiao
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