IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - State officials have granted Iowa City public schools a two-week extension to teach all classes online as the district seeks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus among students and staff.
The state granted the request on Wednesday - the same day it received the request from the Iowa City Community Schools District, one of the largest in the state.
School districts must request a waiver from the state in order to pursue two weeks of online-only classes due to the coronavirus. The Iowa City school district already went through the process last month, garnering permission to hold classes online for two weeks when the school year began on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the district submitted a new request seeking another two-week waiver, noting in the request that Johnson County’s 14-day positivity rates had been climbing and had reached 20.4% on Wednesday.
“This quick increase is due to an increase in cases between the age of 18 and 24, representing the return to Iowa City by thousands of college students,” the district’s letter accompanying its application.
The new two-week waiver will allow classes to be conducted online through Oct. 6.
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