Name: Positive COVID-19 test confirmed 4 days after Indianola's Irving Elementary School resumes classes
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Positive COVID-19 test confirmed 4 days after Indianola's Irving Elementary School resumes classes

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Des Moines RegisterIrving Elementary School in Indianola has sent an email&nbsp;to parents confirming a positive COVID-19 test, four days after school resumed.For privacy reasons, it could not be confirmed whether the positive case, reported to parents Saturday,&nbsp;involved a student or&nbsp;member of the staff&nbsp;or faculty, said&nbsp;Indianola Community School District Superintendent Art Sathoff.Irving Elementary began&nbsp;the school year on Tuesday.&nbsp;One first grade class of about 24 students must undergo quarantine for two weeks.&nbsp;Online classes for the quarantined classroom will begin Monday."We've worked pretty hard at remote learning, and built a lot of capacity. We feel like we are doing a quality job with that," Sathoff said.The school is undergoing contact screening to determine who may have been exposed to the virus.More:The confirmed case comes as the state is butting heads with school districts across the state over Gov. Kim Reynolds' requirement that at least 50% of classes must be held in person.Indianola has implemented a&nbsp;return-to-learn model that gives parents a choice: Students either must be&nbsp;on campus for in-person learning five days per week —&nbsp;with a 90-minute-early dismissal each day for remote learning tasks and preparation — or they can receive all their instruction remotely, with a combination of live-streamed and pre-recorded courses.As a&nbsp;safety precaution, the district has been conducting&nbsp;temperature screenings for students. Masks are mandated for staff and students in grades six through 12, and are strongly encouraged for&nbsp;kindergarten through fifth grade, Sathoff told the Des Moines Register.Further, Irving Elementary School Principal Derek Morris said the school has been separating&nbsp;students by classroom&nbsp;so they have no contact with other classes during the day. During recess, contact is separated by grade level.Both Sathoff and Morris told the Register they do not find the positive COVID-19 test surprising, considering the virus's community spread. The district, they both maintain, is working diligently to keep everyone safe and minimize the spread as much as possible."I think we all thought that this would happen sometime, with the amount of community spread taking place," Morris said."Of course&nbsp;it's concerning, but I don't think it is surprising that a positive test would occur," Sathoff added. "We're trying to mitigate effectively and keep everyone healthy. ... We always want to make sure our students and staff are as safe as possible."Some&nbsp;schools around Iowa and in the Des Moines metro, concerned about the spread of COVID-19, have resisted&nbsp;the mandate that schools hold at least 50% of classes&nbsp;in person this fall.During a Tuesday news conference, Reynolds said school districts that&nbsp;refuse to abide by the mandate&nbsp;will not receive credit for those days of instruction. School administrators who defy the rules also could face licensure discipline, she said.More:"Schools that choose not to return to school for at least 50% in-person instruction are not defying me.&nbsp;They are defying the law," Reynolds said.However, some school officials take issue with Reynolds' interpretation of the law, saying schools that choose to hold online-only classes are in conflict with only the governor's guidance — not the law.Urbandale became the on Friday when it refused to begin in-person classes for&nbsp;students at Rolling Green Elementary despite the state's refusal to renew a temporary exemption for the year-round school, issued July 23.&nbsp;The exemption ended Thursday, but Urbandale schools spokesperson Dena Quist said Rolling Green students will continue to take classes online until at least Aug. 20.The state&nbsp;also is at odds with some local school officials over who has the authority to decide when schools can move 100% online.&nbsp;Reynolds says schools must receive permission from the state to make that change, but several districts have argued that it is a local decision, and announced their intention to move classes online without state approval if school leaders determine it's needed to keep students and teachers safe. &nbsp;The Iowa Department of Education&nbsp;has&nbsp;released guidance&nbsp;on when schools can&nbsp;move classes online.&nbsp;Under the state's rules, schools must have a positive coronavirus test&nbsp;rate of at least 15% in the&nbsp;county where they are located and&nbsp;at least 10% absenteeism among students before they can apply for&nbsp;a two-week waiver&nbsp;to transition&nbsp;fully to online learning. Even then,&nbsp;a district might not qualify for a waiver,&nbsp;the governor said Thursday.&nbsp;The Waukee and West Des Moines school districts both have said schools should not have to seek approval from the state before moving classes online."We believe in local control and this circumstance is no different," the Waukee school district said in a statement. "We further believe decisions regarding the health and safety of our students, staff&nbsp;and the general community are best made by those most closely associated with the decision-making."&nbsp;Andrea Sahouri covers breaking news for the Des Moines Register. She can be contacted at , at 515-284-8247 or on Twitter at .&nbsp;Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at&nbsp;.

Des Moines RegisterIrving Elementary School in Indianola has sent an email&nbsp;to parents confirming a positive COVID-19 test, four days after school resumed.For privacy reasons, it could not be confirmed whether the positive case, reported to parents Saturday,&nbsp;involved a student or&nbsp;member of the staff&nbsp;or faculty, said&nbsp;Indianola Community School District Superintendent Art Sathoff.Irving Elementary began&nbsp;the school year on Tuesday.&nbsp;One first grade class of about 24 students must undergo quarantine for two weeks.&nbsp;Online classes for the quarantined...

Positive COVID-19 test confirmed 4 days after Indianola's Irving Elementary School resumes classes

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