As residents protest, Lee’s Summit school board OKs mask rule for all students, staff

The Lee’s Summit school board on Thursday unanimously approved a mask mandate for all students and staff inside buildings for the coming school year.

The mandate will go into effect on Monday. The board also agreed to reevaluate the mask policy in October, prior to the start of the second quarter.

The meeting was interrupted at times, as several residents stood outside to protest mandates or yelled over Jackson County health officials, who were invited to the meeting to explain the trend in spiking COVID-19 cases and why masks are necessary again.

The decision came after Jackson County on Wednesday announced plans to reinstate its mask order, effective next Monday. The public health order issued by County Executive Frank White requires everyone age 5 or older to wear masks inside public places, regardless of vaccination status.

Kansas City’s indoor mask mandate went into effect last Monday. Officials in both Platte and Wyandotte counties were scheduled to consider mask mandates at meetings Thursday night. Johnson County has not implemented a new countywide mask order, but on Thursday, the board of commissioners voted to mandate masks in elementary schools.

North of the river Thursday night, Platte County officials voted to merely recommend masks, with no mandate.

Jackson County health officials have said that daily new cases of the virus have nearly tripled over the last month, jumping from a seven-day average of 43 cases the week of June 27, up to 118 cases the week of July 25. Hospitalizations across the region are up 75%, to levels not seen since January, the county said in a news release.

Ray Dlugolecki, assistant health director for Jackson County, told the school board that more outbreaks are occurring in summer camps, child care facilities and other places where children congregate.

Local and national health officials are urging school districts to take action to protect students as they return to classrooms this month. They worry that the highly contagious delta variant will rapidly spread in classrooms of unvaccinated and unmasked children, leading to mass quarantines and school closures. Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics both are urging universal masking in schools this fall.

Health officials agree that last year, universal masking, along with social distancing, testing and other COVID-19 mitigation strategies, helped prevent widespread transmission of the virus in schools.

On the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro, several districts have already decided to mandate masks, including Kansas City Public Schools, as well as the Liberty, North Kansas City, Center and Park Hill districts.

On the Kansas side, in Wyandotte County, the Kansas City, Kansas, district has decided to require universal masking in all schools. In Johnson County, the De Soto district will mandate masks for everyone. Also on Thursday evening, the Shawnee Mission district agreed to a universal mask mandate as well. The Olathe school board also was set to meet Thursday.