Watch: Iowa City schools, union in court to fight state on in-person class requirements

An injunction hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the case of Iowa City Schools and Iowa State Education Association v. the State of Iowa. It will be livestreamed on this page when it begins.

Although the Iowa Department of Education gave Iowa City schools permission to start the year with two weeks of online classes, the statewide teachers union and the school district still will ask a judge Thursday to temporarily stop Gov. Kim Reynolds' requirement that the majority of classes be in-person during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ISEA and the school district will argue the temporary injunction is necessary to give the court time to consider their lawsuit against Reynolds and the department, which contends the governor exceeded her authority in requiring that schools must have 50 percent of their instruction in person.

They say local school districts have primary authority over their education plans, and the governor's order violates her constitutional duty to protect the health and welfare of Iowa citizens.