RICHMOND – As COVID-19 deaths and cases continue to rise in Ray County, the Richmond School District prepares to open next week for the fall semester. Superintendent Greg Darling said nothing has changed since the district lifted the mask mandate, but the number of confirmed students and teachers with the virus or who are in quarantine will be presented to the board. “We’ll show the stats and then they’ll evaluate,” he said. There is no plan for an opening that mixes in-school and in-residence learning. “No hybrid,” Darling said. DISTRICT PATRONS SPEAK Some district patrons might agree with the board’s maskless policy, but not former board member Judi Renfro. Renfro said her grandchild’s safety should be based on advice from medical professionals. “We’re very concerned about this variant in COVID, when the school board won’t mandate masks in the elementary school,” she said. The child’s mother, Sara Renfro, said older schoolchildren in the district can get the vaccine at the…