After 5-month break, classes resume in some Kansas schools

(AP) A handful of Kansas students have returned to the classroom this week with masks and temperature checks, while several dozen more mostly rural districts geared up for classes to begin next week.

Columbus school district Superintendent Brian Smith has spent the week hauling furniture out of classrooms to make more space for students to socially distance. “It is almost like you are preparing for war,” He said. “And there is so much that can go wrong and so many unknowns.”

Gov. Laura Kelly sought to delay the reopening of the state’s K-12 schools for nearly a month until after Labor Day because of a resurgence in reported coronavirus cases. But the Republican-controlled State Board of Education blocked the plan last month.