Lang
11/25/20
The Iowa City Community School District and its teachers’ union have dropped their lawsuit against Governor Kim Reynolds.
Reynolds announced at the end of July that schools must offer at least half of their classes in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents can still choose an online-only option, or the state could grant a waiver if absenteeism rates were a minimum of ten percent and the county positivity rate for coronavirus was at least fifteen percent.
In the lawsuit, the district and the union argued that such decisions should be made at the local level, not dictated by the governor. A Johnson County judge ruled against the plaintiffs in September, and the Iowa Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on November 10th.
Lawyers for the district and union say even if they continued with the lawsuit, it likely wouldn’t be heard before the end of the current school year.