While the district was closed late last week due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Park Hill Board of Education extended the district’s mask mandate.
The board met Thursday, Jan. 27, the first day of the district’s closure due to staff shortages brought about by the pandemic. The mandate was set to expire Thursday, Feb. 3, coinciding with the expiration of the City of Kansas City mask mandate. The board approved an extension through Friday, Feb. 11, allowing for updated guidance from Kansas City. Board member Scott Monsees voted against the masking extension.
During public comments – which were overwhelmingly in support of the continuance of the mask mandate – several parents asked for its extension through the remainder of the school year. Brian Heflin said the mask mandate needs to be better enforced at district gymnasiums during sporting events. Another parent who works in healthcare said most cases of COVID are going unreported now as one family member tests positive and other family members are assumed cases based on that positive and as such are not reported to the state. Another said the surge in cases in the district was due to the one week of classes held after Christmas break with no mask mandate in place.
Director of health services Tammy Saylor reported that among students and staff, Park Hill has had 2,271 positive cases so far this school year, with more than half of those occurring within the last three weeks. More than 100 staffers tested positive within the past week, she said.
The state-provided antigen fast tests will run out early this week, but a saliva PCR test will be available to staff and students within a week. Those results will take more time, but will be free and reliable.
District officials urge families that if a student tests positive during the closure to notify the school to keep an accurate track on positivity
Assistant superintendent Bill Redinger presented an agenda item authorizing pay for district teachers and staff during the two-day closure. As the closure was such an unprecedented event for the district, Redinger gave a brief overview of the situation, noting the that over the past couple of weeks the district was seeing large daily increases in the numbers of teachers and staff falling ill or in isolation. Along with the record numbers of more than 200 teachers and staff out sick, Redinger thanked remaining staff for stepping up during the crisis.
“We’ve had custodians answering phones and principals and certified office staff in the classrooms filling in,” Redinger said, thanking those workers for their efforts. “We’ve also had a really nice response from the community with several community members stepping up to get certified and coming in to teach.”
Board member Todd Fane asked about substitute teachers who were scheduled to work during the closure. Redinger said those teachers will also be paid if they were scheduled, and that every possible sub in the district had been scheduled due to the overwhelming number of absences.
Attending the meeting remotely, board member Susan Newburger said the district’s options were limited due to decisions made at the state level.