The Kansas State Board of Education voted Wednesday to reject an executive order from the state Democratic governor pushing for school start dates since September.
Under current policy, which remains in effect, local districts will now decide for themselves when to start the school year. Governor Laura Kelly’s order would have prevented Kansas public or private schools from resuming classes until September 8.
The Republican-party-controlled state legislature has ordered any Kelly executive order on school opening to be approved by the state board, so the 5-5 split vote was enough to kill his move.
“COVID-19 cases in Kansas are at their highest point and continue to rise. Our decisions must be reported by public health experts, not by policy,” Kelly said in a statement. “This vote puts our students, teachers, their families and our economy at risk.”
“I will continue to work with our school districts to ensure the safety and well-being of our children and to ask all school districts to delay the start of school,” he added.
Some board members told ABC News that they opposed the order during Wednesday’s vote out of concern in rural areas that they have not yet experienced major outbreaks.
“This virus is not the same across the state,” said member Jean Clifford.
Kansas has seen an increasing number of new cases of COVID-19 in the past few weeks and has now registered more than 24,000 confirmed cases. Some 321 people have died in the state since the pandemic began.
State leaders across the country have faced calls from national leaders, including the Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
Elizabeth (Betsy) Dee DeVos Georgia’s largest school district to start the school year online The Republican Party-White House agrees $ 5 billion in coronavirus aid for schools NAACP sues DeVos over the change in the aid rule for the CARES law that would give more money to private schools MORE begin reopening school even as an increasing number of new coronavirus infections threaten plans to reopen business sectors and other public spaces.
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