Ames Community School District – Required Continuous Learning

Press release from the Ames Community School District:

September 1, 2020

School Board Approves the Recommendation to Start the School Year in Required Continuous Learning

Last evening, the school board voted unanimously to begin the 2020-21 school year in a 100% off-site Required Continuous Learning delivery model due to the rapidly increasing COVID-19 positivity rates in our community.

This decision was based on the COVID-19 positivity rates in our community. On Monday, the 14-day positivity rate was 21.1%, which exceeds not only our local metrics but those outlined by the Department of Education.

Department of Education (DE) Request – We have submitted our request to the Department of Education to deliver instruction 100% online. Approvals from the DE are issued for two weeks. As of this writing, we have not yet heard of their decision.

Two Weeks Starts September 8 – The two-week Required Continuous Learning online model will begin on September 8 for all students and will continue through Friday, September 18, which at that point will be reevaluated.

School Board Meeting – A school board meeting will be held the week of September 14 to act on a recommendation from Superintendent Risner regarding which delivery model to be in after the two-week period. This decision will be based on the COVID-19 metrics at the time. The most likely options at the time include continuing in the Required Continuous Learning online model, or move into a Hybrid model.

Athletics – While in the Required Continuous Learning online model, all athletic practices and competitions will be suspended. This includes the two-week initial time frame starting on September 8. Athletics scheduled for the remainder of this week will continue with strict mitigation practices in place. The decision to pause athletics is not a choice by the District, but a decision made by the Department of Education. The Iowa High School Athletic Association has agreed to deem any of these scheduled competitions as a “no contest.”

This press release was produced by the Ames Community School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.