IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - One of the largest school districts in Iowa is starting the school year with online-only instruction.
KRCG reports that the Iowa City school board voted Saturday to conduct all classes virtually for the first two weeks. Classes in the 12,000-student district begin on Sept. 8.
The move comes after the state granted the district a waiver earlier in the week allowing for the virtual instruction. The 14-day average positivity rate in Johnson County, where the district is located, was 13.9% on Wednesday but had risen to 21.1% by Saturday.
The positivity threshold Gov. Kim Reynolds has established for schools to seek online learning instead of required classroom lessons is 15%.
Extracurricular activities, like sports, must be suspended for the duration of the two-week waiver.
Statewide, the number of positive case rose to 63,112 as of 10 a.m. Saturday, up by 1,081 from one day earlier. The number of deaths increased by 17 to 1,091, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.
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