KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Unified School District 232 has made masks optional following Johnson County's decision to drop their mask mandate that applied to schools.
Masks were already optional at the district's high schools, which includes areas of De Soto, Shawnee, Lenexa and Olathe, since the Johnson County mandate only applied to students in sixth grade and below.
"This protocol coincides with action taken on Thursday, February 17, by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, in its role as the Board of Public Health, to revoke the public health order (No. 001-21) requiring barrier face masks for elementary and middle school buildings," an announcement from the district said.
The decision will go into effect Feb. 22.
However, the district also noted that face masks will be required again if absences related to COVID-19 surpass 5% of a school's population. At that time, masks would be required until the schools absence rates subsided below the 5% threshold.
Masks will still be required on school buses due to a federal requirement.
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