Kansas City area high school closes for COVID-19. The entire district may soon follow
Because of a spike in coronavirus cases, the North Kansas City school district has temporarily closed Staley High School, and all its students will return to online-only learning for the rest of the week.
But officials warn that the entire district may follow suit soon if the number of cases continues to climb and the number of available teachers dwindles.
“If we cannot flatten the curve, we will not be able to continue face-to-face instruction,” Superintendent Dan Clemens said in a letter to parents Wednesday.
District officials reported 22 COVID-19 cases at Staley and said the number is growing. North Kansas City does not have a blanket set of criteria for when to close a school because of virus spread. Such decisions, based on guidance from health officials, are made “on a building by building basis,” said Susan Hiland, district spokeswoman.
Last week, the district closed Oak Park High School for a few days after 15 cases were identified in a two-week period. With 32 schools, North Kansas City is the biggest district on the Missouri side of the metro area.
In his letter, Clemens said the rate of teachers quarantining is overwhelming. “The pace of the last two weeks is not sustainable,” Clemens wrote.
“We are seeing our substitute pool of nearly 600 individuals and our Transportation department of 200 employees being stressed to a breaking point.”
Clemens said contact tracing indicates the spread is coming from outside of school because of “failure to follow” basic safety protocols — mask wearing, frequent hand washing and social distancing
His letter made clear the district prefers having all its students back in classrooms, “so long as it’s safe to do so.”
Many students, he said, need support they can only get in person, and there is “great concern” for students’ emotional well-being.
But he said, “NKC Schools’ community spread is trending in the wrong direction.”
Clemens pleaded with families to “help us recover in the upcoming months and bring our students back for more face-to-face instruction.”
North Kansas City began school after Labor Day with pre-K and elementary students attending in person five days a week. Middle and high school students attend two days a week and learn remotely three days.
Before Oak Park was closed, it had cut short its football season in the last week of October when a staff member for the sports program tested positive and four other members were presumed positive.
On Tuesday Shawnee Mission school district officials gave similar warnings, telling families that a shrinking pool of substitute teachers will soon make it too difficult to keep classrooms open. An unusually high number of staff members have resigned or retired this year, and dozens of others are out after being exposed or testing positive, officials said.
On Wednesady, the metro area — Kansas City and Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in Missouri, as well as Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas — gained 980 cases for a total of 62,137.
The seven-day average for new cases continues to break records. It now sits at 1,015. One week ago, it was 632. Two weeks ago, it was 421.
While Staley is closed, North Kansas City drive-by meal distribution will continue between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. throughout the week All activities and athletics are canceled during this time with the exception of fall sports that are still competing.
