Most of Perry’s neighboring school districts have now approved onsite Return to Learn (R2L) plans more or less similar to Perry’s onsite R2L Plan, which the Perry School Board approved July 13. A survey of Perry-area districts reveals largely uniform policies promoting such virus-mitigation goals as surface sanitation, hand washing and social distancing but with some variation on the controversial question of face coverings.
According to a July 14 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, entitled “Universal Masking to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Transmission—The Time Is Now” and co-written by Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Community-level protection afforded by use of cloth face coverings can reduce the number of new infections and facilitate cautious easing of more societally disruptive community interventions such as stay-at-home orders and business closings.”
In spite of the CDC’s clear message, some people have continued to dispute or deny the efficacy of face coverings for political or other non-scientific reasons. Misinformation on social media has also raised doubts about face-mask advice that in virtually all other countries is non-controversial.
To Perry’s south, the Adel-De Soto-Minburn Community School District aims for a business-as-usual feeling when classes resume Aug. 24 by providing students with “an educational experience similar to a traditional school year to the greatest extent possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the ADM onsite R2L Plan.
According to the district’s plan, all ADM students in the third through 12th grades will be “required to have a cloth face covering when onsite at ADM. Cloth face coverings will be required to be worn in situations where physical distancing cannot be maintained,” and “six feet of physical distancing will not be able to be maintained in most settings.”
All ADM faculty and staff “will be required to wear a cloth face covering when in the same room or space as students,” and “at no time will an ADM staff member be in the same room or space as a student without a mask or face shield.” In “situations where staff can maintain six feet of physical distancing, staff can choose to wear a face shield without a mask to better support teaching and learning in the classroom,” according to the plan.
The Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District will also return to something like business as usual when classes start Aug. 27 insofar as “onsite instructional classroom during COVID-19 will look very similar to classroom instruction prior to COVID-19 with health and safety precautions,” according to the school district’s onsite R2L Plan.
The DC-G district is “planning for social distancing within all aspects of the school setting,” including transportation, hallway traffic flow, lunchtimes, athletics and other activities, but social distancing “may not be possible in crowded classrooms with older students,” according to the R2L Plan.
Additionally, “Facial coverings are required for staff and students,” and the schools “will work to provide time during the day to give facial covering breaks, but believe the majority of the day will be spent with them on.”
To Perry’s northwest, the Greene County Community School District onsite R2L Plan appears to be the most similar similar to the PCSD plan. The GCCSD schools will open Aug. 27 “with all students in attendance onsite,” and face coverings will be “strongly encouraged but will not be required. It is important for everyone to recognize wearing a mask is a personal choice, and no one wearing or not wearing a mask should be singled out.”
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, Greene County has reported 37 positive tests for the novel coronavirus and zero deaths since the beginning of the global pandemic. Dallas County has reported 1,672 positive cases and 34 deaths.
If a student is unable to return to school in the Greene County district due to health or safety concerns, he or she must complete a Request for Remote Learning Form and submit it to the District Office with the necessary documentation by Aug. 3.
Perry’s northerly neighbor, the Ogden Community School District, which begins classes Aug. 24, will require face masks or face shields for all faculty and staff, and face coverings for students will be “highly recommended” but not required, according to the Ogden onsite R2L Plan.
To Perry’s west, the Panorama Community School District will host a public meeting Monday, July 27 to discuss the district’s onsite R2L Plan and the requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE). Panorama classes begin Aug. 24.
The Woodward-Granger Community School District onsite R2L Plan will also take effect Aug. 24. In a July 20 letter to parents in the district, Woodward-Granger Community School District Superintendent Matt Adams said the district “will require masks for all teachers and students grades K-12.”
Adams also noted that “expecting a student to wear a mask for seven hours a day is not realistic. Principals and teachers will work to identify opportunities for breaks throughout the day.”
All of the R2L Plans assure Iowans of the districts’ unwavering commitment to the health and safety of their students, faculty, staff, parents and communities, and all note the unprecedented challenges now facing school districts and the fluid and provisional nature of their plans.
Many plans add assurances similar to those of Dallas Center-Grimes Superintendent Scott Grimes, who said, “We are in uncharted territory, and I appreciate your grace and understanding during this time. We are all in this together.”
The JAMA article by Dr. Redfield makes a similar appeal for a spirit of unity in the face of the ongoing public health emergency: “At this critical juncture when COVID-19 is resurging, broad adoption of cloth face coverings is a civic duty, a small sacrifice reliant on a highly effective low-tech solution that can help turn the tide favorably in national and global efforts against COVID-19.”
