Nearly a week after voting to make mask use optional inside school buildings in late March, the USD 253 Board of Education has chosen to alter those plans.
During a special meeting Monday afternoon, the board voted 5-2 to make masks optional effective immediately. On KVOE’s latest news poll, 83 percent of residents said masks should be optional immediately. Nine percent or 96 votes said masks should be optional after classes end in late May while six percent agreed with the board’s original decision to make the masks optional effective March 28 after students return from spring break.
President Art Guttierez and board member Lillian Lingenfelter voted against the motion. During the meeting, Gutierrez had proposed beginning the mask optional policy effective Mar. 7 saying he felt that would be a happy “middle ground” for staff, students and community members.
Lingenfelter also wished to hold off on moving to the optional policy immediately to allow teachers some additional time to prepare for the change.
Board member Grant Riles voted in favor of the motion along with Jami Reever, Leslie Seeley, Jennifer Thomas and Jeremy Dorsey saying he is “encouraged by recent metrics.”
The special meeting came after several changes in both local metrics and recommendations from the state and federal levels including the CDC and Kansas State Department of Education recently announced it was no longer requiring mandatory mask use.
Reever says the district has been committed to “following the science” throughout the pandemic and she does not believe that should change now.
Per the board’s decision, mandatory mask use will return to a building if said building’s COVID-19 absentee rate reaches or exceeds five percent. Additional mitigation strategies will remain in place including three-foot social distancing and testing policies according to Director of Nursing Jennifer Arndt.
Mask use will be optional on all buses and school transportation unless required by state and federal agencies. District athletics and activities will continue following guidance from the Kansas State High School Activities Association.
For infected people or close contacts, the district will still require a negative test result at least on Day 5 so affected people can return to school, but they will still need to wear masks between Days 6-10 at all times.
The full policy is available online at USD253.org under the board docs tab on the left-hand side.
In addition to the policy update, the district is currently working with a Kansas Department of Health and Environment affiliate to organize a “all ages vaccination clinic” at some point in the near future. Additional details on those efforts are currently pending.
