CPS parent group donating thousands of N95 masks to Columbia Public Schools employees
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A community group says it plans to donate more than 2,000 N95 masks Tuesday for Columbia Public Schools employees.
Members of the Community Foundation of Central Missouri plan to deliver the masks to the CPS building that used to house Cedar Ridge Elementary.
"Now that we have teachers back in the building with our students, it's important to keep them safe so we can continue in building school," said Jennifer Roberts with CFCM.
Roberts said it is important for the district to step up their "mask game" and realize that people need to have the best mask that they are comfortable wearing.
"We felt like this is an important thing to do at this time especially because the new variant strand of the virus," said John Baker, Director of CFCM.
Baker said with the vaccine process delayed, it is important to make sure staff and students are safe within the buildings.
CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said the district supplies N95 masks and other personal protective equipment. The donation will help supplement that supply.
"The group has also expressed support in providing the district with additional child-sized disposable masks, which is an area of need for the district," Baumstark said.
Baumstark said the district has already bought masks to give students, but as time goes on, more masks will be needed.
Roberts said one of their next steps as they continue to get donations is providing kids size masks for students. They will be continuing to accept donations through their Facebook page.
Positive cases and quarantines have affected many of the district's buildings. Superintendent Peter Stiepleman told ABC 17 News during a live interview Tuesday that nine of the district's 21 elementary schools, four of seven middle schools and one high school have been affected by cases and exposures. Middle and high school students returned to class last week for the first time since March.
Masks and other protective equipment are some of the only defenses most staff members have against the novel coronavirus as vaccinations continue to lag in Missouri. Teachers are able to get the vaccine in Phase 1B, Tier 2, but many counties are at different stages in that process as they wait for more supplies to become available.
Stiepleman said over the past week about 50 more CPS staff members have been able to receive the vaccine through Boone Hospital Center.
Meanwhile, cases in the district's boundaries are declining. The number of cases per 10,000 people in the district's boundaries was 64.1 on Monday. That's down from a high of 111.7 reported in November.
Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said the state continues to receive paltry numbers of doses. Meanwhile, some vaccinators are slow to administer the shots.
As of Monday, 661,400 doses had been shipped to Missouri. Of those, 304,434 (46%) have not been reported or administered. Many of the doses are part of the program to vaccinate nursing home residents, Cox said.
Cox said the state health department is working with providers to increase the speed at which they get vaccines into arms.
Cox said where vaccines go throughout the state is based on the limited number of doses allotted each week to Missouri and decided by the state's interagency vaccination planning team.
