Shawnee Mission School District

Just because students are starting the semester virtually doesn’t mean they’re learning from home.

The Jackson County Health Department says all students should learn virtually when there's community spread of the coronavirus. But Johnson County health officials says elementary students can learn face-to-face.

All students in the Shawnee Mission School District will start the year virtually to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But some parents say society has "moved on" from the pandemic, and it's time to get kids back in school buildings.

School nurses will have to check temperatures, triage symptoms and even do some contract tracing on behalf of local health departments when in-person learning resumes.

Public health officials say a return to in-person learning will only be safe when fewer people are testing positive for COVID-19. Right now, cases are spiking in Kansas and Missouri.

At least in coronavirus hotspots like Wyandotte and Johnson counties, it’s starting to seem like Gov. Laura Kelly will get her way.

It remains undecided whether students and teachers will return to in-person school or begin the year in virtual learning.

A third party will look into complaints of racist bullying and sexual misconduct by the former principal of the district's alternative high school.

Infectious disease experts encourage enforcing social distancing and requiring face masks for students and teachers and say child-to-adult transmission of COVID-19 is rare.

Ahead of contract talks with the union, the Shawnee Mission School District has unveiled a plan to address workload concerns by hiring more middle and high school teachers.

In Shawnee Mission Schools, for instance, what is currently projected to be a $7 million surplus could end up being at least a $13 million deficit.

This year's high school yearbooks will commemorate a school year cut short by a global COVID-19 pandemic.