KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At a board meeting Monday night, the Blue Valley School District decided to stick with their current mode of learning.
With case numbers rising in Johnson County, pushing the county into the red zone, schools have been re-evaluating their learning modes.
The Johnson County Department of Health said last week that because the spread is coming from the community and not the schools, they do not recommend changing learning modes.
Several parents attended the meeting to advocate for continuing in-person school.
"Healthcare workers are as essential as teachers and schools. There is no substitute for in-person learning full-time," said Julie Hamlin, oncology nurse practitioner and parent who stressed that current data shows very few cases in schools. "We want our children to learn to evaluate data and apply critical thinking. The district and the board need to lead by example."
Blue Valley follows the Kansas Department of Education's navigating change criteria, not the county's. They will continue their current learning mode with elementary students in-person and middle and high school students in a hybrid plan until Nov. 27.
The district plans to announce what mode they will be in after Thanksgiving break on Nov. 16.
That is also the deadline for parents to choose their learning preferences for the second semester.
