Kansas City area school district closes for rest of week with 25% of students sick
The Bonner Springs Edwardsville school district has canceled school for the rest of the week because nearly a quarter of students have fallen ill from COVID-19 and other illnesses.
“In an effort to give our school community time to get well and avoid causing further disruption in the learning process, school will not be in session on Thursday, January 13th and Friday, January 14th,” officials in the Wyandotte County district said in a letter to families on Wednesday.
The district’s 2,600 students were already scheduled to be off on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Classes are expected to resume the following Tuesday. The district will use two days built into the calendar for inclement weather and similar incidents.
“The goal of this change in schedule is to reduce the further spread of illness among our school community and give those who are sick a chance to recuperate,” the letter states.
Nearly 25% of students are absent because of a combination of COVID-19, as well as seasonal illnesses such as the flu, spokeswoman Kaela Williams told The Star.
“Right now, it is just hitting the student body really hard,” she said. “We urge parents to keep kids home when they’re sick so it doesn’t keep spreading.”
COVID-19 cases, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, are hitting record highs throughout the Kansas City metro. Hospitals are reaching capacity and struggling from a lack of employees.
Other districts are sounding the alarm that with severe staffing shortages, they are struggling to keep school doors open. On Wednesday, the Kansas State Board of Education temporarily lowered the requirements for substitute teaching licenses, in an effort to avoid school closures. Missouri had already taken similar measures.
Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson told the board Wednesday morning that, “four school districts right now that I know of are about to shut their doors. They don’t have enough staff to operate.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 4:29 PM.
