The beginning of COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 is leading Missouri governments and the state’s largest school district to begin planning for the end of mask requirements.
Last Thursday, the Kansas City City Council let its mask mandate for adults in public areas expire while renewing the mask requirement for another 30 days for children and adults in schools. Councilmember Heather Hall, one of two voting against the measure, stated city government shouldn’t be involved in this level of public health.
“I don’t believe people should ever be mandated in a country like America, and I’m not going to support this for that reason,” Hall said.
Hall told the council school boundaries overlapping municipal boundaries is creating confusion as children and families struggle to determine mask policies.
“I just feel like we should stay in our lane and be a city government,” Hall told the council. “I feel the state and the school boards need to be mandating this.”
The Kansas City Star reported a nonprofit group representing parents of students is asking a federal court to block the mask mandate in schools. The Northland Parent Association filed a motion last Thursday to stop enforcement of the mask mandate. It previously filed an injunction to prevent enforcement of mask mandates by municipalities and seven school districts in the northern Kansas City area.
At the end of a study session of the Springfield Public Schools board on Nov. 2, superintendent Grenita Lathan said vaccinations of children might allow the state’s largest school district to end its mask mandate early next year.
“Once everyone is eligible for the vaccine and has ample opportunity to receive it in November and December, we anticipate the masking requirement will be lifted in mid-January after our return from winter break or as cases allow,” Lathan said. “It is important to note that masking on buses is a federal mandate. Therefore, that requirement will make remain in effect until the mandate is lifted by the (federal) government.”
During public comments, several people urged the school district to end its masking requirement.
“The parents just want a choice,” said Kristi Fulnecky, who identified herself as an attorney representing parents of children in the district. “I know you represent a diverse group of people and constituents and everybody has a different opinion… You have to balance competing interests and it’s hard being in your position.”
During his weekly media briefing on Monday, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said statistics are pointing toward an end to wearing masks in the county.
“If the vaccination rate of 5- to 11-year olds goes as hoped, then it’s certainly possible that we could be without a mask mandate by the end of the year,” Page said. “But it’s hard to make that statement with the information I have today and without more feedback and guidance from our pandemic task force.”
The county didn’t have enough vaccines to meet the demand of parents at clinics wishing to get their child vaccinated on the first day of eligibility last week. Page said the most progress against stopping the spread of COVID-19 will be with children as vaccination rates aren’t increasing in the adult population.
“The transmission rate in St. Louis County is highest among our school-age kids,” Page said. “We’re concerned about that because that’s where people are gathering the most right now – in schools. We very much want to keep our kids in in-person school. And at this point, we see masks as a minor inconvenience to keeping kids in in-person learning and keeping cases down as we continue to vaccinate and start to vaccinate that 5-to-11-year-old age group.”
