KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Spring Hill School District’s Board of Education voted Monday to report the number of students who have received exemptions to the district’s mask policies on the district's COVID-19 dashboard.
Monday’s unanimous 7-0 vote comes a week after the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment notified the district that its COVID-19 case rate was higher than many other districts in the county.
Earlier this school year, the board of education passed masking requirements for elementary and middle school students, but the policy allows parents to opt their child out of the requirement by filling out a form.
Last Friday, a parent of a student in the district told KSHB 41 News that the opt-out is being used too freely.
"They should be used rarely, and it’s just a free for all," Heather Hardman said. "Basically, if you don’t want your kids to wear a mask, you just sign one of those papers."
Earlier this year, the district estimated that more than 400 opt-out forms had been filled out.
