Schools Affected By Derecho Can Do Remote Learning

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is expected to sign a new proclamation today that will allow school districts affected by last week's derecho to start the school year online. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette that would include the Cedar Rapids school district and up to 13 others hit hard by storm damage.

Governor Reynolds announced that she will update the public health emergency proclamation to address schools hit hard by the derecho. The Gazette reports that the governor stated "the proclamation will permit those districts whose school buildings have been damaged by the derecho to move to primarily remote learning while they repair their buildings and for students and teachers to return safely."

Students in the Cedar Rapids district still don't know when they'll start classes. The Gazette reports that Cedar Rapids Schools Superintendent Noreen Bush sent an email on Thursday saying that a new start date for the school district will be announced soon. The district is waiting for building assessments on all 30 buildings in the district. They're also waiting for power and wifi to be restored to all buildings as well. Bush hopes to have the review by Monday, which would have been the first day of classes in Cedar Rapids.

Other school districts in the area have also delayed the start of classes. Linn Mar pushed back the start of school three weeks. The Marion Independent District announced that they'll start classes on September 8th.