Proposal pulled, but backers of Jackson County mask order for schools may try again

The sponsors of legislation that would have required masks for students, teachers and staff at eastern Jackson County school districts withdrew their proposed ordinance when one potential “yes” vote for the ordinance did not show up for Tuesday’s meeting of the Jackson County Legislature.

Onlookers in the legislative chamber on the second floor of the downtown courthouse cheered when legislators Crystal Williams, Scott Burnett and Jalen Anderson called off a vote on the ordinance they co-sponsored. More than a dozen people in the audience showed their opposition with hand-made signs that rested in their laps.

Had legislator Ron Finley shown up, the results might have been different.

The ordinance needed at least five votes to pass. Williams was counting on Finley and chairman Charlie Franklin to join her, Burnett and Anderson in requiring masks at schools in Jackson County outside the city limits of Kansas City and Independence, which have their own health regulatory authorities. The Lee’s Summit School board voted earlier this month to reinstate the district’s mask requirement inside all public school facilities for four weeks.

But Finley wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting. In a phone conversation just minutes after the meeting adjourned, he told The Star that he was absent due to a medical appointment.

Asked if he would have voted for a renewed mask order, Finley said, “I don’t know. I wasn’t definite on it.”

Without Finley there, the best outcome supporters could have hoped for was a tie vote, as legislators Dan Tarwater, Jeanie Lauer, Theresa Galvin and Tony Miller have been vocal in their opposition to further restrictions aimed at containing spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“And it dies on tie vote,” Williams said in a text.

She said she believes she and her allies will try again next week.

County Executive Frank White issued a news release on Friday saying he supports requiring masks in schools because the coronavirus is continuing to spread.

“We know how valuable in-person learning is for students, but maintaining that practice is becoming increasingly difficult as schools struggle to have enough teachers in the classroom and more children are getting sick at an alarming rate,” White said in that prepared statement. “Mask wearing has proven to be an effective way to mitigate the spread of the virus and will help keep students, teachers, staff and visitors safe in school buildings. Our vigilant masking efforts, combined with vaccinations for everyone ages 5 and older, will be key to reducing the risk of COVID-19 spread in schools.”

But opponents counter that cloth masks, in particular, are ineffective in reducing the spread and are an infringement on liberty.

“Masking kids does more harm than good,” Grain Valley real estate broker Christi Johnson told legislators in public comments before the ordinance was withdrawn.

She said masks make kids anxious and fearful, cause rashes and are often dirty.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently conceded that cloth masks were not as effective as surgical masks, but health experts widely recommend that people wear masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Before the meeting, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt posted a tweet threatening to sue school districts that impose mask orders.

“Forced masking of school kids is ineffective, illegal & wrong,” he wrote. “To the school district bureaucrats still pushing these mandates — lawsuits will be filed this week. Parents and families should be able to make these decisions for themselves. The calvary (sic) is coming. #NoMaskMandates.”

Jackson County’s previous mask order expired in November. It required all people 5 and up to wear masks while in public places in parts of the county outside the city limits or Kansas City and Independence.

Since then, a majority of the legislature has blocked attempts to reinstate it, despite statistics showing that spread of the virus is worse than ever and hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, especially among people who are unvaccinated.

Mandates or not, acting Director Ray Dlugolecki told legislators that the health department continues to recommend people 5 and older wear masks in all indoor places by people.