New rules concerning COVID-19 school restrictions in Wyandotte County, including relaxed quarantine procedures, will be discussed at a special Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education meeting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8.
Kansas City, Kansas, school board President Randy Lopez said at the Jan. 5 town hall meeting that the school board will have a meeting with Unified Government Health Department officials on Friday afternoon. They will discuss the COVID-19 virus in Wyandotte County, as well as the new rules, at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the virtual board meeting through the school district’s website at www.kckps.org.
The Health Department has posted the new rules for schools on its website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information. The goal is to keep more students in classrooms, according to Health Department information.
At the 5 p.m. Thursday Unified Government Commission meeting, Dr. Erin Corriveau, deputy medical officer for Wyandotte County, said that as time has gone by and as more research has been done, they have learned that it is safe to make some changes in their school health order.
The new school order includes more a relaxed quarantine procedure, she said.
For example, if there is a positive case in a classroom, the entire class does not have to be quarantined under the new order, she said. Just the people sitting on each side, front and back, will have to quarantine, she added.
There is more specific mask guidance for students and teachers, asking teachers to wear higher-grade masks, she said.
Also, for small children, they will be able to sit in small pods, together at the same table, appropriately spaced, Dr. Corriveau said. The new order says the individual students may be less than 6 feet apart, while the tables will have to be at least 6 feet apart. The students will be wearing masks.
Middle school students and high school students will be able to make a few classroom changes throughout the day, Dr. Corriveau said. Each student may go to up to four classrooms. Athletes are still encouraged to stay in the same single classroom cohort all the time, according to the information from the Health Department letter.
At this time the Health Department will let up a little on the rules and watch the situation very closely, she said. They will continue to have testing available, with tests on the spot for children who aren’t feeling well, she said.
The new school protocols are online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/localhealthofficerschoolorder01042021.pdf.
A letter about the new school rules is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/schoolletter_01052021_english.pdf.
On another topic, Dr. Corriveau said the Health Department heard Monday evening from Wyandotte County bar owners and appreciate their comments. The Health Department was scheduled to talk with area health directors Friday about the rules concerning bars’ closing times. Some of the counties in Greater Kansas City have adopted the 10 p.m. closing time, including Wyandotte County, while other counties have not. Johnson County’s closing time was midnight, affecting the economic well-being of Wyandotte County businesses, according to the KCK bar owners.