BY SYDNEY HOOVER
Editor’s note: this story has been updated to reflect comments from Lawrence Douglas County Public Health.
In a split decision, Eudora School Board members voted against a motion Thursday night to shorten the quarantine requirements for some students after the legality of the proposal came into question.
The School Board was considering requiring only a seven-day quarantine for those considered a close contact of someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. Assuming the individual was wearing a mask when in contact with the person who tested positive and did not then test positive themselves, he or she would have been able to return to school after one week.
Currently, those considered close contacts have been within 6-feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes, according to the CDC. An infected person can be contagious up to 48 hours before showing symptoms.
Close contacts are asked to quarantine for 14 days after their most recent contact with the infected person, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment..
“It’s a really bad situation for potentially a dozen kids who have done everything they’re supposed to do. It’s very unlikely they’re at risk, but now they’re being impacted because they’re having to isolate,” board President Eric Votaw said.
However, some board members questioned whether this was a legally viable option, as Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment determine who needs to quarantine for possible exposure and for how long.
Board member Becky Plate said she would want legal counsel on whether the board has the authority to go against a state-level decision on quarantine periods.
“They are the experts. I am not,” Plate said. “I am choosing to trust their expertise because I don’t feel like my expertise in this supersedes theirs.”
Superintendent Steve Splichal said he also worries about the liability put on the school district if it were to go against state recommendations.
State statutes give local health officials authority to issue quarantine and isolation orders, but the vast majority of people have voluntarily complied with quarantine requirements since the pandemic started, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health spokesman George Diepenbrock said in an email to the Eudora Times.
If a suggestion to quarantine is disregarded by an individual, family or school, Diepenbrock said a health officer could issue an official order to quarantine that would then have to be appealed in front of a judge to be overturned.
The board initially brought the requirement into question in order to get students back in the classroom after recent research was released about the effectiveness of masks.
Close contacts should be determined regardless of whether the person was wearing a mask, as research is still limited, according to the CDC. The CDC advises school district administrators to defer to health departments when a positive case is identified, including for contact tracing.
Joe Hurla, who initially made the motion, suggested tabling it until the next board meeting to give the board time to clarify the questions of legality, but Votaw said he wanted to push forward with a vote Thursday night.
Votaw, Hurla and Lynn Reazin voted to approve decreasing the quarantine requirement. The motion failed 4-3.
The district currently has three active cases of the coronavirus — a student at the middle school, a student at the high school and a staff member from West Resource Center. Since Sept. 11, there have been 12 cases recorded in the district, including an outbreak that lead to the closure of Eudora Elementary at the end of September.
The board may reconsider the motion at its next regular meeting Nov. 12 after clarifying what power it has in overruling health department decisions.
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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