KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Blue Springs School District will require everyone age three and older to wear masks while in their buildings through December 2021.
In a vote of 7-0, the Blue Springs School District Board of Education on Monday decided to mandate mask wearing through the end of the fall semester, according to a letter sent out by the district.
While in August the district said it would comply with the Jackson County mask mandate, including in its three schools in Independence where masks are not required, it also said it would make masks optional once the Jackson County mandate expired.
In the release, the district cited quarantining and loss of in-person learning as the main reasons for the new decision.
The Jackson County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both say quarantines are not required if the potentially exposed students were wearing masks.
"Requiring masks for all students and staff has allowed us to significantly reduce the number of mandatory quarantines per positive case for the 2021-22 school year, thus ensuring more students remain learning in school," the letter said. "Learning loss attributed to COVID-19-related absences is a concern throughout the country. The Blue Springs School District must protect in-person instructional time for the future development of our students."
The letter also said that "changes to mandatory quarantine requirements may result in revisions to our procedures."
