KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While many parents have spoken out against masks in Blue Valley Schools, many other parents wish the district would have continued its masking requirement.
KSHB 41 News visited a family whose daughter is immunocompromised and urges the district to take a different approach.
"I try to be within 70 and 180," the 10-year-old girl said, talking about her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
She has a lot of responsibility, constantly managing her blood sugar.
Her diagnosis came unexpectedly last year after a scary trip to the ER. If her family had waited any longer to take her to the hospital, her mother Jeannie said she could have died.
KSHB 41 News not saying her name to respect her parents' wishes for privacy.
"We still work as a team every single day to make tons of decisions to keep her safe, and I'm just asking other people to help her out, too," Jeannie said.
Jeannie said Blue Valley Schools' decision not to require universal mask wearing for the coming year is troubling, considering COVID-19 cases are flaring due to the delta variant.
The school board discussed masks on Monday, saying masks will be "highly encouraged" for people who have not been fully vaccinated, and that no one should make fun of anyone else for wearing or not wearing one.
School officials said they'd continue enhanced cleaning practices, hand sanitizer, improved HVAC systems, and limited hand contact.
"Obviously kids don't get as sick or potentially die from this as adults do, but it's still scary and especially for a parent like us who has a kid with medical needs, we don't know what this might do to her," Jeannie said. "The chances of her ending up back in the hospital are greater than her friends."
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends universal masking in schools for kids older than 2.
Kids younger than 12 can't get the vaccine yet, but Jeannie said they'd take their daughter to get it if they could.
"We just want protection until we have a choice," Jeannie said.
In spring, the family decided they'd send their daughter back to school in-person after spending all of 2020 in virtual learning. Jeannie said that was before Delta cases really ramped up.
If they'd have chosen virtual learning, which is with a third-party company, they would have needed to make the decision by May 31 and the decision would be for the whole school year. In their minds, Jeannie said they knew the vaccine for kids would come out at some point in 2021 so they felt good about choosing in-person.
Her daughter is excited about going back to school but says she wants everyone to be safe.
"I just haven't really seen all my friends in person and there's so many people in my school I love to hang out with, and we don't get to see them that often," the 10-year-old said.
The school district staff is off on Fridays and was not available to speak with KSHB 41 News.
