OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Johnson County Health Department and Blue Valley School District ordered just over a hundred individuals to quarantine after a Blue Valley elementary school teacher was exposed to COVID-19.
Some district parents opposed the decision and organized a Sunday protest in front of Timber Creek Elementary School.
The parents want their kids to attend school in-person despite the COVID-19 exposure.
“I don’t see the reason why they need to quarantine a couple hundred kids for one supposed case," said Chris Kulesa, parent of two kids at the elementary school.
The Blue Valley School District sent 41 Action News this statement:
"On September 16, 2020, the School District became aware of a potential COVID-19 exposure in one of its elementary schools. The District notified the County Health Department, and the Health Department issued quarantine directives.''
A letter from the Johnson County Health Department on Saturday to the district's superintendent stated certain students had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
The Health Department urged students who were exposed to quarantine for 14 days.
“None of this made sense to me why they shut down the school for hundreds of kids in the school," said Anna Vinson.
Vinson has one child attending Timber Creek
Elementary school kids in the Blue Valley school district are currently in the hybrid model, attending class in-person two days a week.
Parents at the Sunday rally told 41 Action News it's more detrimental to their kids' health to be learning at home.
"These kids are more at risk not being educated than they are being in school," said Blue Valley parent Michelle Mitchell.
But for now those hundreds of kids will need to remain in quarantine.
To look at the district's COVID-19 data, click here.
