If Missouri Gov. Parson wants kids in school, why don’t KC teachers have vaccines?
A well-functioning society needs its kids in school. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has been saying since last summer that students need to be back in classrooms. But he hasn’t shown he values public education by getting COVID-19 vaccinations to school teachers and staff in urban areas populated by Black and Hispanic people.
Instead, mass inoculation sites have been rolled out in predominantly white, rural areas of the state. Why not in population centers such as Kansas City or St. Louis?
Parson talks a big game about the importance of getting school children back to their desks, but hasn’t backed it up with action. Missouri has moved into Tier 2 of its vaccination rollout. Educators aren’t included until Tier 3 — and who knows when that will be implemented?
Kansas City Public Schools has not held in-person classes for all students since March. The impact from a year’s worth of virtual learning could cause long-lasting academic damage for a district inching toward full accreditation for the first time in decades.
English language learning students and others with individual instructional needs returned for a brief time in the fall. Within weeks, positive COVID-19 cases and contract tracing shut that down.
Some children were enrolled in district learning centers this month, but a plan for all students to return to in-person instruction next month has been derailed because of the Parson administration’s bumbling response to the state’s vaccine rollout.
Yes, health care workers, first responders and the most vulnerable should be eligible for inoculation first. But students need in-person learning. The educators who spend the day in classrooms are caregivers in their homes and in the community. They must be protected. To Kansas City Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell, that responsibility sits with Parson.
“You want us to get back in school, get us the vaccine,” Bedell said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has in the last week released conflicting reports on how to safely reopen schools and educate children amid the pandemic. Without a readily available vaccine for teachers and staff, a return to in-person learning could hasten the likelihood of uncontrolled community spread — something the Kansas City metropolitan area can’t afford.
“Our hope was certainly that we could offer the vaccine to help staff feel more comfortable about serving students from our buildings,” said Christina Medina, a spokeswoman for the Center School District. “We are still hopeful educators will be a priority to get vaccinated soon.”
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on minority communities, yet Black and Hispanic people have had to jump through hurdles for limited access to the vaccine.
In Missouri, Black people make up 11.5% of the population, but 12% of positive COVID-19 cases, according to data compiled by the state. Black Missourians have accounted for 14% of COVID-19 related deaths, but only 5% have been vaccinated. Hispanic people are more than 4% of the state’s population but only 3% have gotten the vaccine.
Not our fault, the governor’s office said, shifting the blame to the federal government.
“Vaccine supply continues to be the limiting factor, but Governor Parson is committed to fairly allocating doses throughout the state and working with vaccinators to administer vaccines as quickly and efficiently as supply will allow,” a spokeswoman for Parson’s office wrote in an email.
Educators eligible for vaccination in Kansas
At least 26 states, including Kansas, have made teachers a priority for the vaccination.
The Sunflower State is currently in Phase 2 of its rollout, which includes teachers and staff at K-12 schools. Bus drivers, custodians and those working in child care are also eligible.
The Olathe school district announced Friday that students will be coming back to classrooms five days a week starting next month. Teachers throughout Johnson County are eligible for the vaccine, though it’s not yet universally available.
Students in five districts in Wyandotte County could possibly return to in-person classes in March. Educators in the Piper, Bonner Springs, and Turner districts have completed the first round of vaccine shots, as has staff at the Kansas School for the Blind and Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas Catholic schools, Unified Government Public Health Director Juliann Van Liew said. At least half of the staff in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools have taken the initial shot.
The difference in governance between the neighboring states is stark.
“The governor of Kansas is less focused on politics and more focused on saving lives,” said Manny Abarca, treasurer of the Kansas City school board.
Bedell has repeatedly said Kansas City Public Schools would like for students to have access to in-person learning. But until Gov. Parson makes educators a priority and secures enough supply of the vaccine, he should keep quiet on the importance of classroom instruction.
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.