KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Shawnee Mission School District is the latest district in the Kansas City area to issue warnings about possible closures due to staffing issues.
A district spokesman said that on Thursday, the district had 283 staff who were absent for a a number of causes. That left 67 unfilled positions, but not all of them required a substitute.
In a letter sent to families on Friday, district officials said staff has shown "remarkable flexibility and ingenuity in responding to staff shortages and the unavailability of substitutes."
However, the district said those efforts "will not be sustainable."
Because of this, the district notified families that it would consider closing a school or the district as a whole for one or more days.
Due to legislation passed by Kansas lawmakers last year, schools in the state are limited in the amount of remote learning they can do.
The district said it's monitoring the number of absences among staff and students, but families should begin to plan and think about options in case schools close.
On Thursday, Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools also penned a similar warning to families.
Several school districts have spent the week having to adjust to staffing issues in the metro.
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