Blue Springs School District drops mask mandate after Jackson County health order ends
Hours after the Jackson County Legislature lifted its COVID-19 health order on Friday morning, the Blue Springs School District announced the immediate end of its requirement for children and school staff to wear face coverings in its buildings.
The announcement was made in an email sent out to its mailing list of parents and families after the seven-member Blue Springs Board of Education met on Friday afternoon. The Board voted unanimously to end the district’s mask mandate, the district announced, following a special session where the only agenda item included was a plan to meet in executive session for “urgent business.”
In a statement, shared on Facebook by Blue Springs City Councilman Chris Lievsay, the district said the move aligns with the decision Jackson County leaders had already made.
“It would be inconsistent and arbitrary to keep the mask mandate in our schools if our students and staff were not being asked to wear a mask in any other setting,” the statement said. “We will continue to report positive cases to the health department and allow the health department to follow up as necessary.”
The district intends to continue following its school-mandated quarantine procedures. It says it is also advocating for maintaining healthy habits that will keep COVID-19 at bay, including by advising students with possible symptoms to remain at home until they obtain a negative test result.
Students will not be able to ditch masks altogether during the school week, however. One exception for the new rules is the school bus, which falls under a federal public transportation mask mandate, meaning kids riding them will have to wear masks on the way to and from school.
On Friday morning, Jackson County ended its mask requirement 10 days ahead of schedule when leaders voted 5-4 to immediately suspend its health order. The requirement applied to urban and rural areas of Jackson County other than Kansas City and Independence, neither of which have a current mandate in place.
The Star’s Mike Hendricks contributed to this report.
