Johnson County districts reverse course, cancel classes for Chiefs Super Bowl parade
The day after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, both the Olathe and Blue Valley school districts have run into enough staffing and transportation issues that officials decided to reverse course and cancel classes on Wednesday for the parade after all.
Last week, the Olathe district said that celebratory parade or no, it would hold a half-day of classes on Wednesday as originally planned. And late Monday morning, Blue Valley announced it would keep kids in school as well.
But following the Chiefs’ second consecutive Super Bowl win, the Johnson County districts decided having classes that day would be too difficult.
“As we approach the Super Bowl parade this Wednesday, we are unfortunately experiencing a significant strain on our system that is impacting staffing, student attendance and transportation,” Olathe officials said in a news release, saying that, “While our hope as a school district was to communicate early and prioritize education by keeping our schools open as regularly scheduled,” it will now cancel classes.
As Shawnee Mission and many other Kansas City area districts called off Wednesday classes so families and staff can attend the parade, both Olathe and Blue Valley previously announced they would hold school. Officials cited the several snow days already held this school year and importance of maintaining student learning.
Students in both Olathe and Blue Valley protested their districts’ decisions on Monday. More than 3,900 people had signed a Change.org petition calling on Blue Valley to cancel classes as of Monday afternoon.
Olathe officials were the first to change their mind on Monday afternoon. District officials said that around spring break, “the district will share additional information on how we will make up missed time this year.”
Blue Valley followed shortly after.
“Blue Valley Schools will not be in session on Feb. 14, due to operational challenges, including staffing levels, bus arrangements and anticipated attendance impacting the quality and safety of the school day,” officials said in an announcement late Monday afternoon.
This story was originally published February 12, 2024 at 4:01 PM.
