One of last KC area districts will finally allow kids back in schools — in January
It will be next year before Kansas City, Kansas, students and teachers get back into their classrooms.
The school board on Tuesday approved a plan to start bringing them back in January.
“It has taken us a while to make this decision but the main factor has been trying to figure out a way to mitigate the spread of coronavirus while keeping our students, teachers and staff safe,” said Edwin Birch, district spokesman. “The continued reports of a high number of COVID-19 cases in the county (Wyandotte) delayed the decision to return to the classroom sooner.”
That leaves Kansas City Public Schools as the only area district not to announce a date to reopen classrooms. Other districts have already brought students back or will soon do so, either full time, five days a week, or on a mixed schedule in school buildings and learning from home. Some students in those districts have chosen to do all their learning from home.
KCPS started the school year Sept. 8 with all students online. District leaders have said they might begin bringing students back into classrooms in early November, but no specific date has been proposed. Not even the month is set in stone.
“We are going to make our decision based on data and science and advice from our local health officials,” said Ray Weikal, district spokesman. He said the process will “evolve based on the status of the pandemic in our community. We are not just looking at our district boundaries, we are looking at data for the entire Kansas City area.” In some areas, Weikal said, “the case numbers are bad, among the worst in the region and they are not improving. Cases are up.”
On Tuesday alone, the five-county area gained 146 coronavirus cases for a total of 44,089 to date. The area has seen 649 deaths.
Like some other area districts, Kansas City, Kansas, delayed the opening of school until after Labor Day and began with all students learning online.
The new plan, which requires masks, illness screenings, social distancing and frequent sanitizing, begins in-person school in three phases. Teachers and staff will return Jan. 4. Students in pre-K through second grade will return Jan. 19, with half of them in class in the morning and half in the afternoon. Students in third through 12th grade return Jan. 25 in a hybrid scenario to be determined later.
“We still have some work to do,” Birch said. For certain, he said, only half the students will be in a building at a given time to allow for social distancing.
Parents who want their children to opt out of in-person learning altogether will be allowed to continue with remote learning. In a recent district survey, more than 60% wanted some mix of in person and online learning.
“This has been very difficult,” Birch said.
Elsewhere in Wyandotte County this month, Oak Grove Elementary School in the Turner School District reverted to fully online learning after four students and three staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. More than 100 other students were exposed and ordered by the Wyandotte County Health Department to quarantine. Those students can return to in-person classes next week.
“We understand the amount of concern and uncertainty that still remains for some parents, teachers and the school community,” said KCK Interim Superintendent Alicia Miguel. “There is also an urgency for some parents to have their child return to the classroom.” She said that every request was considered.
“We have some teachers who still are concerned about returning to school,” Birch said.
“People are nervous, afraid of getting COVID-19. The district is doing everything we can. This is an example of where you have all different sizes of shoes and you still don’t have shoes to fit everyone.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 2:40 PM.
