ELDRIDGE, Iowa — North Scott High School in Eldridge, Iowa is set to conduct temporary online learning through Friday, September 25. This switch comes after a spike in COVID-19 cases prompted school leaders to shut down the school and enact distance learning.
The school shut down Friday, September 18 after 11 students and staff members tested positive for COVID-19. School was set to remain closed Monday and pick back up on Tuesday with remote learning.
North Scott School
North Scott submitted a request on Thursday, September 17 with the Iowa Department of Education to move to remote learning. The request asked for distance learning to last through October 5.
The district's superintendent, Joe Stutting, said North Scott did not have to get permission from the Iowa Department of Education to go remote this week. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds made school districts adopt in-person learning 50% of the time. Since North Scott is full time in-person they can go one week without in-person learning as long as they go back to in-person next week.
Stutting says they will look at numbers throughout the week and see if they can go back face to face or work with the state to get one more week of remote learning. He says getting back to in-person is the goal if fewer than 25% of students are not absent.
"If we fall below 25% of our kids having to quarantine, then I think we would have to look at a face to face model," Stutting says. "Now most of our rooms in the high school have 6 feet of spacing now, so I think we would lean towards that."
Stutting said classes would be online through Friday, September 25. Given that their first request was for a two-week virtual learning span, he said they were reviewing their "numbers and options for next week."