Lee’s Summit School District extends mask mandate until mid-November

The Lee’s Summit School Board on Thursday voted to extend the district’s mask mandate until mid-November.

In a vote of 6-1, the district’s mandate was extended to Nov. 18, which is the date of the next board meeting.

Mike Allen was the sole board member to vote against the measure. During the discussion, Allen said he wanted the district’s mandate to be tied with Jackson County’s mask mandate, which is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Nov. 6 unless extended again.

During the discussions, Allen indicated he would likely vote against the extension unless the mandate ended when the county ended its mandate.

“If it ends Nov. 7, I’d just as soon end it Nov. 7 and let our health professionals for Jackson County set the mandate for our district,” Allen said.

“And if they lift Nov. 7, I’d just as soon we lift it in the school district because even beyond where we might visit Nov. 18, it will become even a lot, I believe, a larger more contentious issue, especially at the secondary level — high schools predominantly, maybe not the middle schools.”

After a motion to extend the mandate into January failed, the board approved extending the mandate until its Nov. 18 board meeting.