Democrats, however, are concerned such a bill would take away the decision-making of local school boards and, as a result, cause increased risk for students and teachers in areas with high community spread.
“(In-person instruction) is what we all want, but not at the cost of endangering children,” Prichard said. “Not in the cost of endangering people s health.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers also said they want to look into ways to address the drop Iowa school districts are seeing in overall enrollment, another result of the virus. School districts’ current enrollment this academic year will affect the amount of per-pupil funding they receive next budget year.
Des Moines Register
As a boy growing up in Kingsley, Adam Zellmer remembers winter school cancellations as carefree days filled with sledding, snowball fights and snow forts.
Now, as superintendent of South Hardin Community Schools, Zellmer starts inclement winter mornings by driving the roads of Hardin County at 4:15 a.m. to determine whether conditions are safe enough for students to make it to school. If they re not, he cancels school sometimes with musical flair and accepts a day of lost learning as the price for the safety of students and staff. Zellmer has gained local renown by occasionally singing his school cancellation announcements.