By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As Reno County Commissioners search for a solution to gather more control over how they handle the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts are bracing for what could lay ahead for them.
The issue is with legislation called Senate Bill 40 which was passed last spring.
“My latest understanding is that a judge ruled that pieces of the timelines of that particular bill were unconstitutional but not all aspects of Senate Bill 40,” USD 308 Superintendent Mike Folks said. “We’re looking at what we are going to recommend regarding our policy ,our protocols for COVID. I’m very aware that Senate Bill 40 could once again be a factor in our decisions regarding masks and those kinds of things.”
Folks says the main issue with the legislation is the ability for patrons in the district to appeal any decisions they make in regards to COVID.
“Since we’re going to need to have the board approve a policy regarding when school starts, it would be applicable to any decision that we make regarding masks,” Folks said. “If your required masks, some school districts were getting Senate Bill 40 appeals in districts that were not requiring masks and only recommending it, they were getting appeals on the other side because their students were getting exposed to students who were not required to wear masks.”
Folks says they are working to come up with any solutions that will keep students in the classrooms and hopes that the politics can stay out of the classroom.
“We’ve got to stay out of the political fray because you’re not going to make everyone happy no matter what you do,” Folks said. “Our number one goal is for our kids to be in school all year. They need to be in school. Of course we'll want to keep everyone safe and do everything we can to mitigate the spread of this virus.”
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has filed an appeal to get all of SB 40 back on the books. Meanwhile, county commissioners await a recommendation from the Reno County Health Department on how to get more local control over their response to the pandemic.
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