(Photo courtesy USD 465 Facebook Page)
The Winfield USD 465 Board of Education reversed its mask policy Tuesday night — a week after approving a universal mandate requiring mask use for the start of school in response to surging Delta variant COVID numbers in Cowley County.
The board walked back its mask policy during a special meeting inside the Winfield Middle School gym.
“So, we’re moving away from a mask mandate for all at any indoor activities or learning,” USD 465 Superintendent Nathan Reed said in a video posted to the school district’s Facebook page Wednesday morning. “We’re moving to a ‘highly encouraged’ (mask use) throughout the buildings indoor and a mandatory use of masks in high-density areas and high-frequency travel areas.”
During its regularly-scheduled meeting on Aug. 9, the Winfield BOE approved a universal mask mandate for all students and staff inside district facilities for the start of the school year. On the same night, the Ark City USD 470 school board approved a mask recommendation, but not a requirement.
Several USD 465 parents formed a Facebook group called “USD 465 Concerned Parents” in response to the board’s decision last week. As of Wednesday, the group had 468 members.
“Our ability to stand up for what we as parents believe is best for OUR children has been limited by social pressure and fear,” the group’s page says. “The ultimate goal of this forum is to give us a place to discuss and organize our actions that we as parents are willing to take to stand up for our children.
“The elected school board has made decisions that do not reflect the will of the parents in our community and we must stand and be heard.”
A change.org petition against the Winfield school board’s mask mandate had 360 signatures as of Wednesday.
Reed said the board made no changes in regards to federal mask mandates pertaining to school buses and school vehicles.
“We’re going to adapt to this, we’re going to have a great year of learning building relationships with kids and doing our best to keep everyone safe,” Reed said.
New cases of COVID-19 have risen sharply in Cowley County this month.
The City-Cowley County Health Department reported two new COVID-related deaths in the county on Friday.
So far, 111 residents in the county have died due to the virus, according to the the health department, since the first death was reported in April 2020. So far for 2021, more than 50 have died due to COVID-19 complications in Cowley County.
The daily county of new cases for COVID-19 in Cowley County since the pandemic began. (Graph courtesy KDHE)
Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment added 48 additional new cases of the virus in the county since Monday, for a pandemic total so far of 4,437.
Monday saw the highest new case count for one day in Cowley County (26) since the virus spiked in November 2020.
Cowley County has added over 250 new cases so far this month alone.
Statewide, 3,006 new COVID cases were reported since Monday, including 62 new deaths and 98 new hospitalizations.
