Starting March 11, face masks will no longer be required in Wichita Public Schools, although they will still be “encouraged and welcomed.” The Wichita Board of Education voted 4-3 Tuesday to end a masking mandate that has been in place in Kansas’ largest school district since last August. A substitute motion supported by the board’s three most conservative members that would have immediately ended mandatory masking for students, staff and visitors failed 3-4. Face coverings will still be required on school buses, because of a 2021 federal order that they be worn on all forms of public transportation. And the motion that did pass includes a proviso for the board to reconsider and extend the mandate if COVID-19 spikes again in the district’s schools.
Source: Wichita Eagle
