These major Kansas City area districts on the brink of closing schools due to COVID
Some major Kansas City area districts are on the brink of closing schools as they struggle to find enough substitutes to fill in for hundreds of teachers absent due to COVID-19.
Olathe Superintendent Brent Yeager is warning parents to prepare a “plan B” for child care, saying that the district is “dangerously close” to having to cancel school. He expected about 600 staff members to be absent on Friday, including 15% of certified staff.
He believes Olathe is about 65 more absences away from having to close school doors.
“The reality is that we’re very close to that not being manageable,” Yeager told the school board Thursday night. “If our attendance rates don’t swing the other way, in terms of our staff attendance rates, fairly quickly, we will be talking about it soon. We’re very close.”
“This is uncharted territory for schools closing because they don’t have staff,” he said.
The Kansas City, Kansas, school district also put parents on notice that schools may close temporarily in the near future. And on Friday, the Shawnee Mission district warned families it may need to close some or all schools on short notice due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
KCKPS is asking families to start preparing for COVID-19 related school closures now. This includes childcare options, if needed.
For further information, we ask you check your email and/or text messages. You should have received a message from the district. pic.twitter.com/OygumMRXmL— Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (@kckschools) January 13, 2022
Kansas City area school districts across the board are struggling to keep doors open. Earlier this week, some smaller districts canceled classes due to illness.
Johnson County’s De Soto district canceled Friday’s classes because an estimated 20% of classroom teachers were not available to work. And more than 10% of students had been absent over the past week.
The Bonner Springs Edwardsville school district in Wyandotte County closed Thursday and Friday, saying a quarter of students were out sick. The Eudora district in Douglas County also closed schools on Friday.
On Friday, North Kansas City Superintendent Dan Clemens tweeted that his district is short 300 teachers due to COVID-19.
“We were able to get 100 substitutes. COVID-19 has hit our substitutes hard as well,” he wrote. “I want to thank everyone who has pitched in to help keep our schools open! We appreciate you all very much!”
Districts have been reporting a record number of COVID-19 cases, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant, among students and staff, exacerbating staffing shortages.
In an effort to keep schools open, the Kansas State Board of Education on Wednesday temporarily lowered the requirements for substitute teaching licenses so that college credit is no longer necessary. Missouri had already taken similar measures.
Last year, facing outbreaks and mass quarantines, school districts pivoted to online-only classes while buildings were temporarily closed. But this year, it’s much more complicated because of new state restrictions on remote learning in both Kansas and Missouri. Districts can only use a limited number of hours for remote learning.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said it was time to “rethink” those restrictions.
Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican who chairs the House K-12 budget committee, said she’s not interested in revisiting the restrictions.
“The schools that are closing are not even choosing to use their 40 hours,” Williams said. “This would be a situation that would be true for pre-pandemic. … If you need to close for a specific amount of time you just need to make those hours up.”
Because of the restrictions in both Kansas and Missouri, several districts have decided to completely close schools and use days built into the calendar, for inclement weather and other events, rather than switch to virtual learning.
