The state of Iowa issued its second denial of a school district's request to hold online classes since August on Friday — this time to the Iowa City Community School District.
In an ongoing disagreement between state and local health and education officials in Iowa about what constitutes safe learning conditions amid a global pandemic, the Iowa Department of Education denied the Iowa City district's request to temporarily hold classes remotely beginning Monday, Jan. 11, on the basis that Johnson County's 14-day virus positivity rates, which have hovered between 11% and 13% this week after falling to as low as 6.9% shortly after Christmas, are currently too low to justify online-only learning.