Iowa City school board OKs up to 5 days of virtual instruction

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Community School District may resort to virtual learning if inclement weather cancels school many more times this school year.

In a 5-1 vote, the school board on Tuesday gave school administrators the authority to schedule up to five virtual learning days, as allowed by Iowa law when in-person learning is not possible. School board member Mitch Lingo voted no; board member Molly Abraham was not at the meeting.

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Lingo, who was elected to the school board in November, said data indicates online learning doesn’t work, especially for historically marginalized communities.

Lingo said he didn’t want to set a precedent of holding virtual school when there is inclement weather because climate change could make “strange weather patterns” even more frequent.

The other school board members — who approved the possible use of virtual learning — agreed with Lingo on virtual learning, saying it is a “last resort.”

School board member Jane Finch said school administrators use “good judgment” when delaying or canceling school because of the weather, and she believes that good judgment will extend to the use of virtual learning days.

Currently, the district’s last day of school is June 5. The school board, if it needs to, could approve April 19 — currently a no-school day — as an in-person school makeup day if needed.

The district’s calendar builds in about 6.5 days to provide days to make up snow days. As of Thursday, only 2.5 hours remained of that built-in time.

The state requires Iowa school districts to provide 180 school days, or 1,080 hours of instruction, each year.

Over the past few years, the Iowa City district has added additional holidays to the school calendar in an effort to be more inclusive. Some of the holidays added include the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Fitr and the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur.

Virtual learning became more common during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring of 2020, the Iowa City district began providing tablets or computers to every student in kindergarten through 12th grade.

School board member Charlie Eastham said that while virtual learning is “not ideal,” district leaders are trying to balance fitting the required hours of instruction within the school year while honoring cultural holidays.

District spokeswoman Kristin Pedersen said students in Iowa City’s elementary schools are not in the habit of taking their electronic devices home every night. School officials “keep an eye on” possible bad weather and should let school staff know when students need to take their devices home in case of a snow day.

Students who do not have access to the internet at home can request a wireless hot spot from their school’s student and family advocate. Families with a child with an Individualized Education Plan can contact their child’s IEP team if they have concerns about accessing services remotely.

Cedar Rapids

In the Cedar Rapids Community School District, a committee did consider allowing a virtual option for the 2024-25 school year. The idea did not move forward because the district cannot guarantee all students have access to reliable internet, district spokesman Justin Schaefer said in an email to The Gazette.

The last day of school for the Cedar Rapids Community School District is now June 7. The district lost 41 instructional hours this year, including five cancellations, two early releases and one delay.

Initially, the last day of school in Cedar Rapids was scheduled for June 3.

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