KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When students return to classrooms after winter break in the Park Hill and Liberty school districts, they will not be required to wear face coverings like they were during the first semester.
Both school districts have decided to make wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 a recommendation, not a requirement.
One reason both districts were able to make the change was that an order within Kansas City requiring face masks for all students expired on Jan. 1, 2022. Park Hill and Liberty both have schools within the Kansas City limits.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas he plans to meet with school leaders mid-week to discuss the mask order.
Liberty school board members narrowly approved changing the requirement to a recommendation with a 4-3 vote in mid-December. The board said it can re-evaluate the decision at its Jan. 18 meeting or sooner if it sees a spike in cases once classes resume on Thursday.
“What I’m worried about is coming back from break after everyone’s been all over the country and visiting with family and friends and then coming back into the schools without masks on, because masks recommended means don’t even bother, and then we come back [for our board meeting] on the 18th because we have all these spikes in cases and we’re again reacting,” explained Andrew Roffman, a school board member who voted against the recommendation.
When Park Hill schools resume Tuesday, they will also allow volunteers and guest speakers into school buildings this semester under certain limitations.
