It is now illegal for schools in Iowa to require students or staff to wear face masks, even though the CDC recommends mask use in schools, because of a bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday morning. HF 847 also strips cities and counties of their authority to create mask mandates that […]
ICCSD
ICCSD changes its COVID-19 quarantine policy amid rising rates
The Iowa City Community School District Board of Directors voted during its meeting on Tuesday to relax the district’s standards for when students need to quarantine due to potential exposure to COVID-19. ICCSD had been using the standards recommended by the CDC and Johnson County Public Health and the directors voted 6-1 to switch to […]
‘You can only play Candy Land so many times’: The pandemic from the perspective of local parents
“I will Venmo you to keep my kids an hour longer.” “I became the only socialization. You can only play Candy Land so many times.” Speaking with local parents about their experiences over the last year, a few themes resonated: resilience, struggle, anxiety and an intense desire for some kind of return to normalcy. Also […]
Online students will have to return to school buildings for statewide standardized tests (Updated)
Update: On Tuesday, the Iowa City Community School District sent out an email “intended to clarify” the email it sent on Monday to families of students in the district’s Online Learning Program regarding the standardized test students in Grades 3-11 are required to take. There will be an online version of the ISASP test conducted […]
ICCSD families will have to choose all in-person or all online instruction as new state law limits district’s options
Following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signing of a new law requiring school districts to offer an all in-person class option, the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) announced it will discontinue the hybrid model of education it implemented when limited in-person instruction resumed last fall. “Effective February 15, 2021, the District will no longer offer the […]
Gov. Reynolds signs bill requiring all schools to offer 100% in-person instruction regardless of COVID-19 conditions
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on Friday morning that will require all school districts to provide 100 percent in-person instruction to any student whose parents request it, regardless of its possible impact on the spread of COVID-19 in a school or a community. “It’s time to put local control into the hands of parents, […]
COVID-19: ICCSD’s waiver request was denied as Reynolds plans elimination of hybrid learning; deaths surpass 4,000
Late on Thursday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) rejected the Iowa City Community School District’s request for a waiver to switch to all online classes for two weeks. The district applied for the waiver on Tuesday as Johnson County’s COVID-19 test positivity rate continued to increase over the last two weeks, with fears […]
COVID-19: State finally grants Iowa City schools another waiver, but ICCSD might not use it; another 2,057 Iowans test positive
On Friday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) granted the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) a waiver to continue with all-online classes next week as the number of new COVID-19 cases in Johnson County remains high. The district, however, said it will stick with its previously announced plan to resume its hybrid model […]
Iowa City schools will keep all classes online through Dec. 11
The Iowa City Community School District announced on Tuesday night it has received a waiver from the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) permitting it to extend its use of all-online instruction for an additional two weeks. The district switched to its distance learning model on Nov. 16, due to the surge in new cases of […]
Iowa City Transit suspending Eastside Loop service while schools go all online
Iowa City transit will temporarily suspend the AM and PM Eastside Loop bus service starting on Monday, Nov. 16. “The service suspension is being done due to the Iowa City Community School District decision to resume off-site learning,” Iowa City Transit said in a statement. “Service for these two routes will not return until on-site […]
ICCSD asks the state for permission to go all online due to COVID-19 surge in Johnson County
The Iowa City Community School District has submitted a request to the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) to move to all online instruction for two weeks due to the surge in new cases of COVID-19 in Johnson County. In an email to district families, Interim Superintendent Matt Degner said the request had the support of […]
Iowa City student information may have been exposed in billing company hack
The Iowa City Community School District informed families on Tuesday the company that handles Medicaid billing and reimbursement for the district was hacked and student data may have been stolen. “On September 2, 2020, Timberline informed us that an unknown actor accessed its network between February 12, 2020 and March 4, 2020, encrypted certain files, […]




