We, the undersigned, come together to express our extreme concern that community colleges across the state of Illinois remain open during this pandemic. While most colleges are in the process of transitioning to online learning, the majority of employees are still being asked to report to work and college doors remain open to both students and members of the public. Many of our college campuses serve as voting sites on Election Day, making them potential hot spots for spreading COVID-19. Our hard-working janitors are ill-equipped to sanitize our colleges properly, and keeping them open puts both employees and the public at risk.

You made the right call when you ordered K-12 schools to close beginning March 17 and when you shut down restaurants and bars beginning end-of-business on March 16. Now we’re asking you to do the same for community colleges. We all must do everything possible to slow the spread of COVID-19 and that means allowing all but the most essential employees to work from home. College campuses must be closed to the public, to students, and to most employees so both work and learning can be done safely online.

We also ask that all community college employees, part-time and full-time, suffer no loss in pay during this crisis. We fully support expanding paid sick leave to all Illinois residents along with expanded insurance benefits and other critical social safety net programs. All of Illinois must come together to support workers and their families during this crisis.