Lucas advises KC schools to not adopt Missouri’s looser quarantine guidance for students
Missouri students may be able to avoid quarantine and remain in class in some instances after close contact with a COVID-19-infected individual, under new guidance announced Thursday by Gov. Mike Parson and state officials.
But Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas quickly pushed back, advising area schools to not follow the new recommendations.
Parson’s guidance allows students to remain in school if both the student and the infected individual were wearing masks during the encounter and the school has a mask mandate. The recommendations could cut down on widespread quarantines that have frustrated parents and encourage more schools to require masks.
“The large number of students and school staff members being required to quarantine has presented a significant strain on educators, school leaders and Missouri families alike,” said Margie Vandeven, commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
The updated guidance comes as the virus continues to spread across Missouri. More than 3,700 new cases and nine deaths are reported each day on average. The new recommendations, released by DESE, still call for students to quarantine in cases where someone wasn’t wearing a mask. Individuals with symptoms must also quarantine.
“This new guidance applies if a district or charter school has a mask mandate in place and all individuals are wearing their mask correctly during the time of exposure,” Parson said.
The measures are advisory only. Local boards of education set policy on school operations and Missouri has no statewide COVID-19 mandates for K-12 schools.
Lucas said he couldn’t recommend Kansas City schools follow the guidance based on the uncontrolled spread of the virus within the community.
“Masks continue to be one of the best ways to slow the spread of this virus, and I hope the governor’s acknowledgment of their benefit will encourage more to wear them. Still, masks are not a substitute for proper quarantine measures in schools or elsewhere—particularly as we’ve seen a concerning spike in cases over the past several months,” Lucas said in a statement.
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, because of a spike in cases. Officials warn that the entire district may soon follow if cases continue to climb and the number of available teachers dwindles.
Superintendent Dan Clemens said so many teachers, staff and substitutes are having to quarantine because of exposures that the pool is low. He said contract tracing indicates the spread is coming from outside of school because of failure to follow basic safety protocols; mask wearing, hand washing and social distancing.
Phil Murray, president of the Missouri National Education Association, called allowing people exposed to COVID-19 into schools a “dangerous choice” that jeopardizes children, educators and families.
“The likely irreparable harm to the health of students, our colleagues, and families compels us to speak out,” Murray said in a statement.
The looser quarantine guidance may encourage more mask use at schools, but Parson doesn’t appear to be reassessing his opposition to a statewide mandate. The governor, who won a full term last week after easily defeating an opponent who promised a mandate, on Thursday again emphasized the importance of personal responsibility.
“If you just start letting one person dictate across the state of Missouri for one particular issue -- today it may be an issue you like, but it may not be someday,” Parson said. “And that’s why I think it’s very important as a role as governor that you have to take a balanced approach.”
Repeated quarantines of students have drawn the attention of some lawmakers. Rep. Justin Hill, a Lake St. Louis Republican, told The Star in October that he had heard from a constituent with a child in school who had been quarantined three times without testing positive, to the point that the student had been out of for school longer than he had attended.
Parson’s administration has said roughly 92 percent of Missouri children are receiving some form of in-person instruction. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services director Randall Williams told lawmakers this week that in children, COVID-19 is “a different disease,” especially in those under 14.
Rachel Orschlen, a pediatrics professor in the division of infectious diseases at Washington University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, said schools have not contributed substantially to the spread of the coronavirus in the same way that it does for other respiratory viruses, such as the flu.
She said schools taken steps to increase the physical distance between students, are teaching children in alternating groups and using good hygiene practices. In addition, masks significantly reduce the risk of infection when both the infected and exposed individual wear one.
“What we have seen is we have very little evidence of spread of the virus when we have a positive case in the school environment, but what we are seeing is a large number of students are being quarantined related to this exposure,” Orschlen said.
Parson on Thursday also announced he will expand the scope of the General Assembly’s ongoing special session on COVID-19 budget issues to include shielding businesses from lawsuits related to the pandemic.
The Star’s Mará Rose Williams contributed reporting
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 9:56 AM.
