Hunter
08/25/21
The Iowa City Community School District board was presented with a petition signed by over a thousand parents, medical personnel and community members asking the District to require masks in school to quell the spread of COVID-19.
The Gazette reports that a parent, Jonna Higgins-Freese, shared a simulation of a semester of school without a mask requirement or COVID-19 testing in a district Iowa City’s size. It reportedly resulted in a projection of over 7000 infections among students, and over 200 having to be hospitalized.
Nora Boerner is the parent of three children enrolled in the district. She said she was disappointed in the number of administrators not wearing masks, adding that it’s hard to expect kids to wear masks when the administrators won’t do it.
Superintendent Matt Degner said he was “encouraged” by the number of students who were masked up, but understands there are concerns. The District is prevented by law from imposing a mask mandate, but Degner said the board is looking at “every possibility” to keep students safe.
Governor Kim Reynolds signed a state law this spring banning schools from implementing mask mandates. Districts that defy the law could lose their accreditation, state and federal funding, and administrators could lose their licenses.
