Wichita schools ask for feedback on reopening plan. Masks will likely be optional.

Wichita Public Schools is formulating its reopening plan for the next school year, and district officials are asking students, teachers, parents and other interested citizens for feedback.

“As we prepare to confirm our safety and learning plans for the 21-22 school year and Ignite Learning for all WPS students, it is important to seek stakeholder feedback on a couple of key questions that will shape the district’s plan,” Superintendent Alicia Thompson said in the survey.

The survey questions focus on priorities for the fall semester and pandemic safety, though open-ended feedback is also welcomed.

The survey is available online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/FLYNZZ5. Feedback received by 10 p.m. June 28 will be included in the report to the Board of Education on June 30, when district officials will present the plan.

The public is not permitted to attend the June 30 meeting in person. The board will resume in-person public attendance in July. Live broadcasts of meetings will continue.

Face masks are unlikely to be required in classrooms and other school settings under the final reopening plan. The survey states that likely provisions of the plan include optional masking for students and adults, widespread availability of hand sanitizer, frequent cleaning and a focus on fresh air circulation in buildings.

Officials with USD 259 declined to confirm on Wednesday whether there would be any scenarios where masks would be required, as well as whether vaccines would be required for teachers or students.

“We will be able to confirm answers to both questions at the June 30 meeting,” district spokesperson Wendy Johnson said in an email. “I know people want answers now, but it’s important that we do due diligence and seek feedback from stakeholders prior to confirming elements of the plan. It is our intent that at the June 30 meeting, Superintendent Thompson will share the plan that will guide us during the 21-22 school year.”

District staff have previously said that vaccines would not be mandated for employees.

“We’re not mandating that everybody gets vaccinated,” said Kimber Kasitz, director of health services, at a Jan. 11 school board meeting. “That’s not been a discussion, as a district, that we would do that.”

“I think everybody should get it,” she added. “As a nurse, I want everybody to be protected.”

It is unclear whether the district’s vaccination policy has changed in the past five months.

Board members Ben Blankley and Ernestine Krehbiel at Monday’s meeting thanked people who have been vaccinated, especially parents who permit their children to get the shot. Children as young as 12 years old can get the Pfizer vaccine.

“You are helping to build immunity in our community,” Blankley said, “and you are also helping to protect kids like my upcoming first grader, who can’t get shots today.”

According to the district’s survey, “Stakeholder feedback told us that our community believed students were safe at school this school year (+96%).”

The district’s final report shows that more students contracted the coronavirus after Christmas than before. However, fewer school staff got sick after the holiday break than in the prior months.

As of May 28, WPS reported confirmed COVID-19 cases in 1,144 staff and 957 students during the 2020-21 school year. As of the Dec. 23 report, 753 staff and 450 students had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, has said that public health experts will likely recommend mask requirements in schools.

“Our guidance will remain that unvaccinated persons should wear masks,” Norman said last week. “So we will still have the same recommendations for distancing and mask wearing, until which time we can vaccinate children. There will be a lot of pressure, and I think we will end up with an odd patchwork quilt throughout the state of Kansas.”