Wichita school board votes to strongly recommend but not require masks as year begins

Children returning to Wichita Public Schools are strongly encouraged to wear masks indoors whether or not they have been vaccinated, although the Wichita Board of Education will not require masks for students or staff despite the increased threat posed by the COVID-19 delta variant.

The school board voted 4-3 Monday evening to “strongly recommend” mask-wearing, overriding concerns that not implementing a mask mandate puts children who are too young to be vaccinated as well as immunocompromised family members at risk of contracting the virus.

The board approved Superintendent Alicia Thompson’s recommendation to require masks for visitors to Wichita schools while only encouraging students and staff to use them as a safety measure to prevent the spread.

The delta variant, which accounted for 93% of new U.S. cases in the last two weeks of July, is 40% to 60% more contagious than the already highly transmissible alpha variant.

USD 259 is the largest school district in Kansas, serving more than 49,000 students. Orientation for sixth- and ninth-graders is on Wednesday and other K-12 students start their school year Thursday.

School board member Ben Blankley proposed an alternative motion to mandate masks but his proposal was tabled and did not come to a vote.

Board members Stan Reeser, Ernestine Krehbiel, Mia Turner and Sheril Logan ultimately approved the mask recommendation while Blankley was joined in opposition by Julie Hedrick and Ron Rosales.

Thompson said one concern about mandatory masking is that it could hinder children who are just learning to read.

“The gravest concern academically is our little people, because they learn how to read by watching and looking at pronunciation,” Thompson said.

Only children 12 and above qualify for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Katie Grover, a mother of two Wichita school children, said she supports “universal masking” in schools, especially since the state legislature took action to limit virtual schooling options like the MySchool Remote program implemented by the district last school year.

“As a marketing professional, I am intimately aware of the remarkable power words wield. Words matter,” said Grover, Fidelity Bank’s marketing director.

“So when people hear the words ‘strongly recommend,’ their reaction and subsequent action can and will be distinctly different than if they hear the words ‘require,’ ‘mandate’ or ‘universal.’”

Paul Teran, a Wichita pediatrician, said he treated more children with COVID last week than any other week in the last year and a half.

Teran pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. The Department of Education and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment all recommend masks be worn indoors at all times.

“These are not recommendations that leaders strongly recommend masks. They’re recommending that leaders implement masking requirements,” Teran said.

After the vote, Reeser encouraged everyone who qualifies to receive a COVID vaccine.

“The most important thing you can all do to support our students and staff and allow our district and every other school in Sedgwick County to have a normal year is to get vaccinated,” Reeser said. “The science tells us that vaccines are safe and highly effective.”

The school board will continue to monitor coronavirus trends and will reevaluate masking and other safety protocols at future meetings.