Hunter
08/19/20
The Iowa City Community School District board voted unanimously Tuesday night to start the year with 50% in-person instruction, but also voted unanimously to challenge the Governor’s mandate.
Kim Reynolds has mandated that each district offer at least 50% in-person instruction or be forced to make up lost classroom time. She has set up local coronavirus-infection metrics that must be met to even request an in-person waiver. The county where the district is located would have to have a positivity rate of at least fifteen percent for that option to come into play, a rate that critics say is way too high.
The District is joining with the Iowa State Education Association in a lawsuit that is to be filed this week, challenging the legality of the governor’s edicts. The Iowa City Press-Citizen says the brunt of the cost of the lawsuit would be absorbed by the state association.
The Iowa Department of Education denied ICCSD’s request to start the school year exclusively online.
Parents also have the option to enroll their children in an online learning program, and as of Tuesday afternoon, about 47% of those who have already enrolled have chosen that option. School Board Superintendent Matt Degner says that will help with social distancing for the rest, who will be divided into two groups in order to reduce congestion during the school day. They will attend in-person classes either twice or three times a week every other week.
The District is requiring face coverings and masks on school grounds, buses or other district vehicles. The district will provide two cloth face masks to each student.