DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - As Iowa saw coronavirus infections rise and spread to more counties Friday, school officials struggled with how to educate students and meet state demands when classrooms must remain empty.
A day after the governor ordered that schools remain closed through at least April 30 and district officials submit plans to the state for educating their students, it wasn’t clear how superintendents would respond. What works in an urban district like Des Moines might not be possible in smaller, rural districts.
It was just another fallout related to the coronavirus. On Friday, the Department of Health said an additional 85 residents had tested positive for the disease, bringing the total to 699 cases with 11 deaths.
In Des Moines, the state’s largest district, Superintendent Thomas Ahart said he won’t resume in-school classes this spring and would release a plan next week to instruct students over the internet or on paper worksheets.
“I believe that re-opening our school doors before the COVID-19 pandemic may have even reached its peak in Polk County is not in the best interest of the health and well-being of this community,” he said, noting about 40,000 people pass through the city’s schools daily.
More than 360 other Iowa school districts also were scrambling to make plans after Reynolds extended her earlier four-week school closures, leaving districts at most a month of potential classes before school years end in late May or early June.
Reynolds also has given districts until April 10 to report their plans for educating students for the next month.
Schools may choose a voluntary option, which encourages students to participate but doesn’t require attendance, grades or give credit. A second option is required learning, which requires attendance and in which teachers grade work and grant credit. Districts also may choose not to attempt distance learning but will be required to make up missed days at a time not yet determined.
“While we strongly encourage schools to provide continuous learning opportunities through one of these two options they are not required to do so,” Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo said Thursday.
Lebo acknowledged difficulty for many districts in which students have poor or no internet access or do not have home computers or devices to access online resources.
She said the department is surveying districts to determine limitations and working with the governor’s office and other organizations to coordinate resources.
In Ottumwa, a district with 4,600 students, Superintendent Nicole Kooiker said the voluntary approach fits best.
Given the community’s significant poverty level, many students don’t have computers or internet connections, Kooiker said. With teachers not trained for virtual classrooms and the stress students, families and staff are enduring, it would be hard to require them to focus on mandatory work and grades, she said.
She said she’s talked with 25 superintendents in a conference call from her area and all are planning to organize some distance learning.
“Everybody is planning on doing something and most everybody that I’ve talked to is doing that voluntary educational enrichment,” she said. “It’s just really challenging to put in place at this point in time everything online kindergarten through 12th grade.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.