The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education, at its Tuesday night meeting, decided to let its policy on masking stand.
The current school district policy in effect is that everyone wears a mask when inside buildings, according to Tiffany Lewis, the district’s director of health services.
The CDC is lowering the mask requirement for communities that are at low risk of COVID, but Wyandotte County is classified as high risk, she said. Based on that, she recommended that the district continue the mask policy.
The policy is tied to the Centers for Disease Control, Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Unified Government Health Department recommendations, according to Superintendent Anna Stubblefield.
If the risk level here ever changed to low or medium, then the policy could change, Dr. Stubblefield said.
Lewis said as of today, the KDHE had not yet released new guidance on the issue.
The way the policy is written, the district’s policy could change without a board vote if the risk level changed to low, since it is tied to the three agencies’ recommendations, according to district officials.
Board members briefly discussed whether they wanted to have a vote before any change may be made in the future, but decided to leave the policy as is.
The risk levels are based on hospital beds in use, admissions, and total new cases in the area, according to Lewis.
If the community risk is low, it is the recommendation of the CDC that personal preference be used in masking, she said. If there is medium risk, residents should consult their providers on whether it is appropriate to mask. High-risk communities should wear a mask indoors in public and get tested if they have symptoms.
Wyandotte County has a lower vaccination rate than some other area communities. Currently 62 percent of Wyandote County residents have received first doses of the vaccine. Those receiving two doses totaled 51.9 percent. Thirty-six percent have received three doses.
Dr. Stubblefield urged the board to follow the current policy.
Board member Wanda Paige noted that everyone would like to go without masks, but the numbers here are much worse compared to other areas. With the low percentage of vaccinations, she doubted if Wyandotte County would ever get to the low risk stage.
Several other school districts in the Kansas City area have dropped mask requirements.
To see Wyandotte County on the CDC map, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html.