ELDRIDGE, Iowa — Speaking to News Eight from quarantine, North Scott Community School District Superintendent Joe Stutting confirmed that he is ill with COVID-19.
"I'm getting better," Stutting said. "I had those typical symptoms: a headache, a cough, body aches."
He has been at home recovering since getting sick last week, receiving his positive test result on Saturday. It's not how the superintendent hoped to start the school year.
Since students returned to the classroom last Tuesday, more than twenty students and staff are under quarantine. On Friday night, the sophomore football team was pulled off the field when an athlete's test result came back positive in the first quarter.
While under Iowa state guidance hybrid learning is an option, Stutting said that 85 percent of families in the district decided to send their students back for in-person learning.
Strict mask-wearing and social distancing policies are in place, and so far there are no confirmed cases of the virus spreading within the school.
The cases that have been confirmed came from community spread. That includes Stutting, who believes he contracted the virus at a weekend get-together.
"And I’ll take the criticism for my situation, I understand that. It still doesn’t change the fact that we want to stay face-to-face." Stutting said. "We all need to do our part both in school and out of school."