By Beacon Staff
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the continued closure of Iowa schools during a press conference Friday morning, (April 17).
Schools will remain closed through the end of the academic year to curb the spread of coronavirus.
School districts will continue to offer distance learning opportunities, both online and through paper packets distributed to students, for the remainder of the school year. In a reversal of an earlier policy Reynolds put in place, students will not be required to make up the time missed during the shutdown.
The Burlington School District responded to the closure of the school’s official Facebook account.
“We are committed to continue providing learning opportunities and services for our students during this challenging time. We continue to update our plans and will share information and updates as they are available. Please continue to check our school website, www.bcsds.org for regular updates or call our school closure hotline, (319) 753-9698, for assistance,” the statement reads.
Burlington Notre Dame responded in much the same way on its Facebook page.
“The school is working on contingencies regarding this. We will have something out to you next week,” the statement reads.
The West Burlington School District had a materials pick-up event Wednesday that will allow students the chance to learn at home. The district has not officially responded to the governor’s new declaration.
All high school spring sports are canceled as well. The cancellation covers boys' and girls' track and field, soccer, golf, and tennis. There will be a decision made on summer sports (baseball and softball) by June 1. For now, those sports are suspended until that decision is made.
The governor also announced Friday that she will waive the late-August start date requirement, which could allow school districts to start the 2020-2021 academic year earlier than Aug. 23.
"Maybe there's a possibility for schools to start three weeks early and start some of that remediation so that we can start to see where the kids are at and help provide them the instruction they need to get them there to where they should be," Reynolds said.
Schools are required to submit a "return to learn" plan to the Iowa Department of Education by July 1 that could include things like summer school classes, enrichment activities or other programs designed to address disruptions to learning.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.