The real COVID variant: KC area schools’ mask policies vary. What parents must do now

Will Kansas K-12 students be required to wear masks when school starts back up next month? It depends entirely on where you live.

In Blue Valley schools there will be no mandate, the board of education decided Monday, while masks are “highly encouraged” for those not fully vaccinated. Olathe, De Soto, Spring Hill and Gardner-Edgerton districts have similar policies. But on Tuesday, the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Education voted to require masks of everyone.

The Shawnee Mission Board of Education will weigh in at its regular meeting on Monday, after the Johnson County Department of Health issued its own four-point guidance for schools July 16.

After Kansas’ official COVID-19 state of disaster declaration expired June 15, it became clear there would be no state mandate. That kicked the decision down to the local school districts.

And thank goodness that at least school districts still have that authority. A Johnson County judge ruled last week that a Kansas pandemic law that would allow lawsuits against school mask mandates is unconstitutional. Of course Attorney General Derek Schmidt is appealing that ruling. But even Schmidt acknowledges that school districts likely have preexisting authority to issue such mandates.

So now it’s up to each district to decide. David Smith, chief communications officer for the Shawnee Mission School District, says it always was. “School districts have the constitutional authority to operate schools and to develop operational policies and procedures,” he wrote.

It’s absolutely essential that your district have such power, especially with the COVID-19 delta variant spreading like a prairie fire. It’s therefore also vital that you be aware and supportive of that decision-making process. Now is the time for public input, as passionate patrons in Blue Valley shared this week.

It’s even more essential that parents be reasonable and collaborative with their elected leaders and school officials, and consider the public welfare. There can be exceptions made about masks for individual students’ health and circumstances. But there are fewer units of government closer to the American people, and if a local school district decides after due deliberation to require masks, that should be honored. Period.

The law overturned last week, SB 40, included a provision through which aggrieved citizens could seek an expedited hearing to have a mask mandate struck down in the courts. That avenue is no longer available — again, thank goodness. For one thing, the law required a judge’s decision within seven days, which the Johnson County judge found to be an unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers — legislators giving judges a deadline, especially such a short one, to get their work done.

And again, parents should abide by the will of their elected boards of education on such dire matters of public health.

Yes, COVID-19 mask policies will differ from district to district. Here’s what doesn’t vary: The real answer is to get vaccinated if eligible, address your local school board, and then live with the result — perhaps literally.

This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.