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Olathe school board votes, students to return March 1

A 5-2 vote from the board will bring back in-person learning in less than a month for all secondary education students in Olathe Public Schools. The switch to full-time classroom learning will start on March 1, while elementary students have already made a return to school.

This week, the Olathe, Kan. school board voted 5-2 to bring all students back to in-person classes at the beginning of March.

The board’s decision applies to middle and high schoolers at Olathe Public Schools who are currently in a hybrid learning schedule. Grades Kindergarten through 5th are already learning in-person.

These older students will switch to full-time, in-person learning on March 1. Any students who opted for remote learning will not be effected by the district’s change.

The school board also decided Thursday night to allow teachers to get out of their contract with no penalty if they do not wish to return to the classroom.

“Citing declining community numbers, internal numbers including low absence rates, declining COVID-19 numbers in our school, and limited spread within our buildings, board members voted 5-2 to bring secondary students back to full time in-person learning,” Superintendent John Allison said. “We will continue to review numbers regularly and watch for trends within our buildings.”

Olathe is one of a few metro school districts who have made big changes to their learning mode as daily new COVID cases decline across the Kansas City region and vaccinations begin.