Sponsors of a new Jackson County mask mandate for schools are pulling their support
A proposed ordinance that would have required that masks be worn by all persons inside school buildings and on school buses in eastern Jackson County is being dropped by its sponsors, county legislator Scott Burnett said Thursday.
The county legislature had been scheduled to discuss the issue at Monday’s regular meeting in the downtown courthouse. That almost certainly would have filled the gallery of the second-floor with opponents of a mask mandate as it did earlier this week, when the measure was introduced.
But Burnett, one of four co-sponsors, said he planned to withdraw his support and said at least two of the three other co-sponsors were in agreement. He hadn’t been able to reach the fourth.
Even a loss of three votes would make passage impossible, as four of the nine members have been steadfast in their opposition to reinstating any kind of health restrictions since the countywide mask order for everyone 5 and older expired in November.
Jackson County’s jurisdiction includes all of the county beyond the city limits of Kansas City and Independence, which have their own authority for health restrictions. School districts outside of those two cities are free to decide whether or not to impose mask orders, but a county ordinance would take precedence over those rules.
For instance, the Lee’s Summit district is requiring masks through Feb. 24. The Blue Springs school system dropped theirs last month.
While still concerned about the rate of transmission of the coronavirus and hospitalizations for the disease it causes, COVID-19, Burnett said he is encouraged that the trend lines are dipping. He also noted that other jurisdictions locally and across the nation are dropping masking requirements.
According to the county health department’s Covid-19 Data Dashboard on Thursday, COVID-19 cases and deaths were down 73% and 59%, respectively, as compared to four weeks ago when the omicron variant was surging. Positive tests were down 64% over the same period.
Legislator Crystal Williams would have liked to have seen the county move forward with a mask ordinance for schools, but recognized that the votes weren’t there to pass one.
In a Facebook post this week, she took aim at the vocal minority who are opposed to any restriction, regardless of the circumstances.
“Can you imagine how bereft your life must be, if raging about wearing a mask to protect your fellow human is the defining moment in your activist life?” she wrote. “Absolutely refusing to participate in helping your community. It’s astonishing.”
