Shawnee Mission School District

As students prepare to head back to class, some schools are looking at new ways to keep them safe.

The Shawnee Mission school board's new plan completely removes a requirement that schools bring back masks if 5% of students are absent due to illness — the threshold that prompted seven elementary schools to bring back universal masking earlier this month.

Six elementary schools in the Shawnee Mission school district returned to wearing masks Monday. All of the schools surpassed the district’s 5% threshold of overall student absence rates related to illness.

Schools around Kansas City have been able to provide meals to thousands of children for free, regardless of their family’s income, thanks to federal legislation passed during the pandemic. Now, districts are worried that Congress will let those waivers expire.

Ghost guns may be tied to two high-profile shootings in Johnson County, including one at Olathe East High School. Sheriff Calvin Hayden said he could not think of other instances where his officers had encountered that type of weapon.

School officials are on alert for threats following a shooting at Olathe East High school on Friday that injured three.

More than twenty students and teachers from Kansas City-area schools gathered to support public educators against bills in the Kansas legislature that they say undermines their profession.

Shawnee Mission secondary students and staff will all be required to wear a mask as of Jan. 24. The board of education unanimously approved universal masking until Feb. 15, although it could be extended at the board's Feb. 14 meeting.

Soon after the start of the new semester, several school districts in Johnson County have re-instituted mask mandates after seeing high rates of COVID-19 transmission among students.

The flood of new COVID-19 cases has made it practically impossible for county officials and school nurses to keep up with the task of tracking down who an infected person may have been in contact with.

Just days into the new semester, local school districts are experiencing hundreds of staff absences as COVID-19 surges.

Many Kansas City area students will not be required to mask up when they return to class this week despite concerns about the rise in COVID-19 cases.