Iowa Governor Extends School Closures Through April

The Telegraph Herald reports that Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds made an announcement Thursday ordering schools to remain closed through the end of the month.

The extended closures are an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Reynolds states that keeping schools closed at least through April 30 was needed as we are seeing more COVID-19 cases in Iowa.

As we have with all COVID-19 decisions, we will continue to monitor the situation, assess the measures we have in place and use data to make the right decision at the right time.”- Gov. Reynolds

According to the report, "school districts will be required to let state officials know how they plan to continue to provide educational opportunities to students." Districts have the option to choose a program that uses "distributed paper worksheets or online tools to give students credit, or they may provide noncredit lessons." Any districts offering noncredit must make up the lost instructional time beyond what has not been waived. The districts must make these decisions and notify the state by April 30.

The Governor does not have plans at this time to close schools for the remainder of the year.