KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Students and staff in the Independence School District will have to wear masks when they return to classes on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
Superintendent Dr. Dale Herl made the announcement to families in a YouTube video on Friday.
Herl cited staffing struggles and difficulty in finding substitutes as the reason for implementing the temporary mask mandate.
"This discussion isn't about whether masks are effective or not," Herl said in the video. "And it's not a discussion on how severe or contagious the omicron variant is."
The mandate applies all students in the pre-K through 12th grade.
"If we as a district want to continue to offer in person learning, our best action is to temporarily reinstate the masking requirement," Herl said.
Herl did not indicate how long the mandate would be in effect.
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