KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Schools in Missouri and Kansas are preparing to open for another school year, as the delta variant has caused concern in both states. KSHB 41 News has compiled a list of all the masking policies in districts across the Kansas City-area.
Check for your district below. Districts are organized by county and placed under Kansas City metro, remaining Missouri and remaining Kansas categories.
Due to a federal mandate, masks will be required on school buses.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information comes in.
KANSAS CITY-AREA DISTRICTS:
Clay County:
The Clay County Public Health Center Board of Trustees recommended that students, faculty and staff wear masks in school buildings during their Wednesday, Aug. 11 meeting.
Excelsior Springs School District
- Masks will be encouraged, but not required. The district will be able to provide in-person, hybrid and virtual learning options.
Kearney School District
- Masks will be requiredfor all students, teachers and staff while indoors.
Liberty School District
- The district will require masks.
Missouri City School District
- Masks are required when in a district building or using district transportation. However, a face covering can be taken off when an individual can social distance, such as at recess or lunch.
North Kansas City School District
- The district will require masks.
Smithville R-II School District
- A universal mask mandate for students and staff begins August 16.
Jackson County:
Jackson County instituted a mask mandate indoors, which will apply to all schools in the county. The order will begin Aug. 9 and last for 30 days. The policies of districts in Jackson County will be listed below, but at the start of school all districts will be required to mask due to the county order.
Blue Springs School District
- All district buildings will comply with the Jackson County mask mandate, which requires anyone over the age of five to wear a mask inside public spaces. The district will emphasize cleaning and symptom monitoring.
Center School District
- Center will require masks indoors for students and staff.
Fort Osage School District
- As of Aug. 6, masks or face coverings are required in district buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Students and staff are exempt from wearing masks if they meet any of the following criteria: Deaf or hard of hearing; younger than 5 years old; have a medical/mental health condition or disability that would prevent a face covering; when involved in "high-intensity activities."
Grain Valley School District
- The district will comply with mandates issued by the Jackson County Health Department. Absences due to COVID-19 will not count against a student.
Grandview School District
- Masks will be required in accordance with the county mask mandate. Distance learning is an option in the district.
Hickman Mills School District
- Masks will be required for students and staff.
Independence School District
- The district will require all students, staff and faculty to wear masks while in district buildings. Anyone older than two years old will be required to wear a face covering.
Kansas City Public Schools
- Masks will be required for students, guests and staff, in accordance with CDC guidance.
Lee’s Summit School District
- Mask will be required for all students, but the mandate will be reevaluated on Oct. 22 before the second part of the fall semester.
Lone Jack School District
- Lone Jack will follow Jackson County Health Department recommendations, so currently masks will be required.
Oak Grove School District
- Masks are recommended at Oak Grove. The district will follow any mandate from the county, state or federal government as well as the a vote by the school board, so the students will be required to wear masks.
Raytown School District
- The district will require mask wearing indoors for students, teachers and staff when school begins on Aug. 23. It will follow the Jackson County public health order that went into effect Monday, Aug. 9.
Johnson County:
TheJohnson County Board of County Commissioners passed a mask mandate on Aug. 5 for kindergarten through sixth grade students and staff who work in those environments. The individual school district policies are listed below, but after the county's mandate begins, all K-6 grades will be required to mask.
Blue Valley School District
- Masks will be required for all early childhood and kindergarten through 12th grade students, staff and visitors.
Gardner Edgerton School District 231
- Students K-12 will be required to wear a mask beginning Aug. 28.
Olathe Public Schools
- Olathe Public Schools extended Johnson County's mandate to include seventh through 12th grades in their mask mandate.
Shawnee Mission School District
- Masks will be required in Shawnee Mission.
Spring Hill Unified School District
- The district will follow the Johnson County mandate and require all children, faculty, staff and visitors will in a elementary or middle school building to wear a mask. These means grades kindergarten through eighth grade will be required to wear masks.
- The school board updated its policy on its mask medical exemption forms for elementary and middle school students, and parents are now allowed to sign off on the medical exemption form for mask wearing instead of needing a doctors signature.
- Masks are highly encouraged but not required for high school students.
Unified School District No. 232
- Mask are requiredindoors. Teachers will need to wear a mask when in close contact with students.
Platte County:
North Platte School District
- Masks are optional, unless otherwise mandated by the Platte County Health Department.
Park Hill School District
- The district will require masks to be worn to comply with the Kansas City, Missouri, mask mandate.
- Also, the school board voted in favor of their own indoor mask mandate, which will be evaluated at the start of the second quarter of the semester.
Platte County School District
- The district will require masks indoors for everyone 3 years or older when social distancing can't be maintained.
West Platte School District
- Masks and other PPE will be optional unless otherwise mandated by the Platte County Health Department.
Wyandotte County:
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Commissioners voted to reinstate the indoor mask mandate, but they left out of the mandate all county school districts and Bonner Springs and Edwardsville.
Bonner Springs/Edwardsville Unified School District
- Masks are required as of an Aug. 12 updated policy.
Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools
- Masks are required in KCK public schools.
Piper Kansas City
- Masks will be required for students, staff and visitors in all district buildings.
Turner Unified School District
- Masks are required for everyone inside school district buildings. The only flexibility will be for students participating in athletics, and students with medical exemptions signed by a doctor.
REMAINING MISSOURI DISTRICTS:
Bates County:
Adrian School District
- Mask are recommended but not required for students and staff. Distance learning is an option at the district.
Appleton School District
- The district said it will “continue to seek guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, Missouri DHSS, and local, state, and national entities” regarding masks, and will then decide its policies. Their return policy states that the rules outlined will be revisited whenever necessary and at least every six months. Remote learning is an option in the district.
- The last update on the return policy was April 15, according to their website.
Ballard School District
- Masks are not required in the district. Absences from school due to COVID-19 will not count against the student.
Butler School District
- Masks will be encouraged but remain optional at the district.
Hume School District
- Masks are requiredfor all visitors, students and staff.
Miami School District
- Masking is based in phases in the district.
- Phase one: low threat, students may wear masks
- Phase two: increased threat, students are encouraged to wear masks while staff is required to do so
- Phase three: students will experience a hybrid educational setting
- Phase four: the building will shut down and the school will convert to online learning
Rich Hill School District
- There will be voluntary maskingin the district, but no requirement.
Buchanan County:
St. Joseph School District
- Masks will be required for the start of the school year.
Caldwell County:
Braymer School District
- Masks will be optional in the district.
Hamilton School District
- Masks will be optional, but the district will defer to mandates given out by the Caldwell County Health Department.
Cass County:
Archie School District
- Masks arerecommended in the district but not required. The district will provide two cloth masks to each student. The district also said onits website that they may revert back to their rules from the previous school year if it is deemed necessary. Remote learning is an option in the district.
Belton School District
- As of Aug. 12, masks are optional. The school board will review its decision at the Sept. 30 board meeting.
Drexel School District
- The district has outlined their quarantine and contact tracing system here. Masks will be allowed but not required.
East Lynne District
- Masks are welcome but not required, and the district will provide masks to anyone who wants one. Schools will also conduct daily screenings of students and staff.
Harrisonville Cass Schools
- Masks will be encouraged for the unvaccinated but not required. The district will provide access to virtual learning.
Midway School District
- Masking in the district will be based on the PCR 7-day positivity rate.
- If 5-9% masks are recommended for students
- If 10-14% masks are strongly recommended
- If 15% or above masks are required
Pleasant Hill School District
- Masks are optional but the district said they could be mandated by Cass County, the Cass County Health Department or the School Board, and which point masks would become required.
Raymore-Peculiar School District
- Masks are required in all Raymore-Peculiar schools.
Sherwood Cass School District
- Masks are recommended but not required.
Strasburg C-3 School District
- Masks are encouraged in the district.
Clinton County:
Cameron School District
- Masks will be encouraged in the district but not required.
Clinton County School District (Plattsburg)
- The school district will not require masks unless the Clinton County Health Department or other government agency makes it a requirement. The district has online learning options available. The last time the district updated their masking policy was June 1.
Lathrop School District
- Lathrop said on July 28 that masks would not be required, unless a government agency mandated it.
Johnson County (MO):
Chilhowee School District
- Masks are encouraged in all areas and required in “congested” areas in the district.
Kingsville School District
- Maskswill be optional, in general, but masks may be required during times of high transmission risk. The district said it would comply with directives from health departments and other government entities.
Knob Noster School District
- Knob Noster is not requiring masks but said it would update guidelines in accordance with health department guidance. The district will provide a virtual learning option.
Leeton School District
- Leeton school district has not mandated masks, but will follow mandates issued by government agencies. The district will provide virtual instruction options.
Warrensburg School District
- Masks are optionalin the Warrensburg district.
Lafayette County:
Lafayette County School District
- Masks are recommended in the district but not required, regardless of vaccination status.
Lexington School District
- Students will be required to wear masks during arrival and dismissal of each school dayand during passing periods for middle and high school students. Staff will need to wear face masks within six feet of students. The district will provide an online learning option.
Odessa R-VII School District
- Masks are recommended in the district.
Sante Fe School District
- Masks are optionalin the district.
Wellington School District
- Masks will be worn when three feet distance can't be maintained at very limited times during the school day such as arrival, passing period and dismissal.
Ray County:
Orrick School District
- Masks are optionalin the district.
Richmond School District
- Masks will be highly encouragedat Richmond but not required.
REMAINING KANSAS DISTRICTS:
Anderson County:
Unified School District 365
- Masks are optional in the district.
Atchison County:
Atchison Public Schools
- Masks are required in Atchison public schools.
USD 377 Atchison County Community Schools
- Masks are currently optional, but the district said it was closely monitoring the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 and may change its policy.
Doniphan County:
Doniphan West USD 111
- Masks are recommended but not required according to an April update.
Riverside USD 114
- Riverside does not have a mask mandate.
Troy Public Schools
- Troy Public Schools removed their mask mandate based on vaccination rates and infection rates but may reinstate it if needed.
Douglas County:
The Douglas County Commission and local health officer issued an indoor mask mandate for children ages 2 to 11 on Aug. 19, which includes in schools.
Baldwin City USD 348
- There are nomask requirements at Baldwin.
Eudora Schools Kansas Unified School District no. 491
- Masks were not required for summer school, but the district will revisit the topic for the regular school year.
- The next school board meeting is Aug. 12.
Lawrence Public Schools
- Masks are required for everyone age two and olderwhen inside on district property. Masks are not required outside or while eating, drinking or during designated "mask breaks."
Silver Lake Schools
- Mask are recommended in the district.
Franklin County:
Central Heights USD
- There is nomask mandate but unvaccinated students are encouraged to wear masks.
USD 287 West Franklin
- Staff and students have the choice to where a mask, and the district has said it may adopt other measures throughout the year.
Jefferson County:
Jefferson County North USD 339
- The district doesnot require masks.
Jefferson West School District
- Masks are optionalin the district.
Perry-Lecompton USD 343
- Masks are highly recommended for unvaccinated individualsin the district, but not required.
Valley Falls USD 338
- Valley Fallas does not require mask usageunless ordered by county health department.
Leavenworth County:
Basehor-Linwood Unified School District
- Masks are recommended at Basehor-Linwood.
Easton Unified School District 449
- All students and staff are requiredto wear masks at the beginning of the school year. The board will review county and local COVID-19 numbers to loosen the mask restrictions at a later date.
Fort Leavenworth Unified School District
- Masks are required for everyone except: students who submit proof of vaccination to the school nurse and staff who submit proof to HR. Children under the age of 2 and people with medical exemptions are also allowed to go maskless.
Lansing Unified School District
- Masks are highly encouraged but not required in the district.
Leavenworth Unified School District
- The district updated its policy to add a situational masking policy for all students. Students will be able to take masking breaks when social distancing can be achieved.
Tonganoxie Unified School District
- Masks are optionalin the district as of an Aug. 9 board meeting.
Linn County:
Pleasanton USD 344
- The district does not“anticipate” that masks will be a requirement.
Miami County:
Louisburg Unified School District
- Masks are optional in the district.
Paola Unified School District
- Masks are optional in the district.
USD 367 Osawatomie Unified School District
- Masks are optional for all students and staff.
Osage County:
Lyndon USD 421
- The district does not have amask mandate.
Marais Des Cygnes Valley USD 456
- The district previously removed their mask mandate and have not put a new one in place.
Osage City USD 420
- The district has said it will try to operate as close to normal as possible prior to the pandemic. They ended their mask mandate at the June 9 board meeting.
Santa Fe Trail USD 434
- They removed their mask mandate but have kept their special cleaning protocols.
USD 454 Burlingame
- Masks are optionalin the district.
Shawnee County:
Auburn-Washburn School District
- Masks are not required but strongly encouraged at Auburn-Washburn.
Shawnee Heights Unified School District 450
- The district removed their mask mandate, but said they would consider reinstating it if the situations in the schools changed.
Topeka Public Schools
- The district will follow CDC and Shawnee County Health Department guidelines. Shawnee County is considered an area of substantial transmission and the CDC recommends universal masking when indoors.
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