The Wichita Board of Education Tuesday voted to remove the mask mandate in schools, effective at the end of the day on March 10.
New members Kathy Bond, Diane Albert and Hazel Stabler, originally requested the meeting for last week, but it was delayed due to the school closings and winter weather.
The meeting lasted for over 90 minutes and included comments from the public and discussion among the board members.
Kathy Bond and Hazel Stabler, read emails from students and teachers about the impacts of masks. Another board member, Diane Albert, cited the latest COVID data in the district and county.
Board member Sheril Logan made a motion to discontinue the mandate on March 10, which would still recommend and welcome masks in all district facilities and athletic events on March 11. However, a federal mandate will still require masks on school buses and district transportation.
Logan clarified the March 10 date to allow for time to gather additional data, and that Spring break felt like it would be a good time to remove the mandate.
Another motion was made to drop the mandate immediately, which was met with unwillingness. Finally the board voted 4-3 to support Sheril Logan's motion of removing the mandate on March 10.
Logan stated that some people believe masks should go away, yesterday, and others think we should keep them on until the end of the school year. "We are going to have more snow this week, so if we get the weather straightened out we will have warmer weather, we will have with the data going down, I feel comfortable removing them at spring break," Logan said.
The district has had a directive since August 23, 2021, which required everyone over the age of three to wear a face mask in district buildings.
