KCK school district plans online classes for first nine weeks after delayed start
The Kansas City, Kansas, school board voted Tuesday night to honor Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order delaying the start of the school year until after Labor Day and to have nine weeks of online classes after that.
According to the school district, no in-person classes will be offered during the first nine weeks of the 2020-2021 school year. Students will return to school virtually.
Before the coronavirus pandemic led to schools being shuttered, the district was scheduled to resume school on Aug. 12.
On Monday, Kelly released two executive orders governing schools. One delayed the start of the school year until Sept. 9 and the other mandated certain safety precautions.
The order delaying the start of school until after Labor Day requires approval from the State Board of Education, due to a new state law that prohibits the governor from unilaterally closing schools. The board has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
Counties cannot opt out of the school safety requirements, Kelly said Monday.
They include requiring all students and staff to to wear masks, sanitize their hands at least once an hour and have their temperatures taken upon arrival.
On Tuesday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and health department director Rex Archer recommended Kansas City school districts wait until after Labor Day to start in-person classes. Kansas City Public Schools said the district would recommend the school board delay opening until after Labor Day.
The Kansas City metropolitan area, which includes Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties on the Kansas side, reported 14,407 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday afternoon.
Missouri reported 34,762 COVID-19 cases and 1,143 deaths. Kansas, as of Monday, has at least 23,334 cases, including 307 deaths.