On Sept 14, 2021, a federal judge temporarily blocked Iowa's state law banning schools from requiring mask mandates. The state law was signed and in effect on May 20, 2021, requiring schools to give parents and students the choice of whether they wore masks in school. Unlike when the state law was enacted in May requiring no mask mandate, with the temporary injunction, districts have the option on how to proceed based on local conditions. Ottumwa schools continuously base decision making on guidance from state law, Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Wapello County Public Health, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Ottumwa Schools will seek feedback from our legal council, public health, stakeholders, and the Iowa Department of Education regarding potential next steps regarding our response to Covid 19. At this time, we will not change our expectations regarding masks. Because this is a temporary injunction on State law, we will take some time to evaluate the situation completely. Ottumwa school board will meet on Sept 27 to evaluate all relevant information and recommendations and make a determination regarding how we will proceed. As we have done from the beginning, Ottumwa Schools will adjust our practices based on new information and guidance as things change. We strongly recommend people wear masks whenever possible unless they are socially distanced in a controlled environment.
To better inform our decision making and be as transparent as possible regarding Covid 19 in our schools, we will again have a Covid 19 dashboard regarding Covid related absences in our schools. Unlike last year, we will not have access to student Covid positive data confirmed by Wapello County Public Health, which allowed for timely and accurate reporting of positive cases of Covid 19. Instead, we will gather data from parent reporting of Covid related absences, including positive Covid test, waiting on a Covid test, parent choice quarantine for close exposure, and parent reporting of Covid-like symptoms requiring 10 day isolation. This data will be reported weekly on Friday and represent the average daily absences in the district related to Covid 19. We understand that this data is not as accurate or specific as what we reported last year, but with changes in quarantine and contact tracing expectations from IDPH, this represents the best data we have to work with for public reporting.
The health and safety of our students and staff is a priority. Communication and transparency is important in the evaluation of this situation. If you have any questions, please contact Michael Stiemsma, District Coordinator of Nursing at [email protected], 641-684-6597 ext. 66113.