DES MOINES — On July 17, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a new proclamation continuing the Public Health Disaster Emergency and taking a number of actions to advance Iowa’s Return to Learn strategy.
The proclamation directs all state agencies, school districts and local governments to focus on preparing to safely welcome back students and teachers to school in-person in the fall.
It also provides clarity for when a school may move to primarily remote learning, authorizing it when:
* Parents select remote learning as the best option for their family.
* The Iowa Department of Education, in consultation with the Iowa Department of Public Health, approves a temporary move to online learning for an entire building or district in response to public health conditions.
* A school, in consultation with state and local public health officials, determines that individual students or classrooms must be temporarily moved to online learning.
* A school chooses to temporarily move to online learning because of severe weather instead of taking a snow day.
Finally, it provides regulatory relief to address our education workforce, including removing limitations on how often and long substitutes teachers can teach and expanding the pool of Iowans who are eligible to serve as substitute teachers.
In-person instruction
Per Gov. Reynolds: “In-person instruction is the presumed method of instruction for all school districts and accredited nonpublic schools during the 2020-2021 school year. I direct that all state agencies, school districts, and other local governmental bodies and agencies shall take all efforts to prepare to safely welcome back students and teachers to school in-person this fall. These efforts shall also ensure that schools have the flexibility to continue providing education remotely if it becomes necessary and that parents have the option to select a learning model for their children that best meets the needs of their family. But the best interests of students and families requires that our schools are prepared to provide a structured, safe and enriching academic environment.
Authorization of certain
remote learning
A. Parental consent: If a parent or guardian voluntarily selects the remote learning opportunity from among multiple options provided by the school district or nonpublic school in accordance with its Return-to-Learn Plan.
B. Approved temporary school building or district closure: If the Iowa Department of Education, in consultation with the Iowa Department of Public Health, approves of the temporary move to primarily remote learning for an entire school building or district because of public health conditions in the building or district.
C. Temporary remote learning for individual students or classrooms: If the school district or accredited nonpublic school determines, in consultation with state and local public health departments, that individual students or classrooms, but not all the students in a school building, must temporarily move to primarily remote learning because of public health conditions in the building.
D. Temporary remote learning because of inclement weather: If the school district or accredited nonpublic school determines that an entire school building or district must temporarily move to primarily remote learning because of inclement weather for a period not exceeding five consecutive school days unless the Iowa Department of Education approves of a longer period.
So long as any remote learning is provided in accordance with a compliant Return-to-Learn plan and is authorized in this section or is not the primary method of instruction (because at least half of the school district or accredited nonpublic school’s instruction is provided in-person during any two-week period), any instructional time provided by remote learning shall count towards the hours and days requirements of Iowa law as provided for by 2020 Iowa Acts Chapter 1107 (Senate File 2310), section 9.