The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education voted Tuesday night to return to in-person classes on Wednesday, March 31, earlier than previously decided.
Students still will have the option for remote learning, if their parents choose.
District officials explained that the reason for changing from the earlier approved April 5 return date was that the Kansas Legislature had passed a bill requiring the March 31 return date. Different forms of the bill are expected to go to a conference committee before final approval, and after that, the bill would be signed or vetoed by the governor.
Matthew Andersen, interim assistant superintendent, said the district will return to five-day-a week school, with early release on Wednesday, as it had done in prior years. Parents have the option for in-person learning or for remote learning for their children.
Andersen said Senate Bill 235 failed earlier, but then the idea came back in Senate Bill 63, which required all districts to have a full in-person option available by March 31.
The school district has been holding remote classes, with select groups having returned to in-person classes earlier.
Since March 31 is a Wednesday, the school district plans a half-day then, as it has in past years, according to district officials.
Dr. Valdenia Winn, a school board member who also is a state legislator, was the only one voting against the resolution to start on March 31 because she said the bill in question mandated student attendance for five days a week, and the district’s proposal had a half-day on Wednesdays for students. In her opinion, it did not meet the bill’s requirements.
Dr. Alicia Miguel, interim superintendent, said her interpretation was that full-time school was the same here as in the past. For several years here, Wednesdays have been a half-day for in-service training.
According to Andersen, early childhood education (preschool) will continue with the April 5 start date.
Thursday, April 1, will be a full day of school. Friday, April 2, will be a half-day district in-service and half-day records prep for the third quarter grades, according to the negotiated agreement, Andersen said, so students will not be there that day.
Wanda Paige, board vice president, said it’s not right for other groups such as the state Legislature to decide these issues for the local school boards. She encouraged people to write to their legislators and let them know that the local school boards should be deciding these issues.
Parents currently have the option to change their students’ attendance to either in-person or remote, by contacting their school office.
According to district officials, 75 percent of early childhood (preschool) students have chosen in-person; 75 percent of elementary students have chosen in-person, 64 percent of middle school students have chosen in-person, and about 67 percent of high school students have chosen in-person.