Skip to content
The COVID Project
  1. Library
  2. Iowa
  3. IA-020

Ex. IA-020 Order Primary source read

Proclamation of Disaster Emergency (in-person instruction; authorization of certain remote learning)

Proclamation directing that in-person instruction is the presumed method of instruction for the 2020-21 school year and authorizing primarily remote learning only with parental consent, Department-approved building or district closure, temporary classroom or individual isolation, or inclement weather

Governor Kim Reynolds · Iowa (State)

Open exhibit (PDF, 1.5 MB)Source (opens in a new tab)
The COVID Project

The record

Jurisdiction
Iowa
Level
State
Authority
Iowa Code §§ 29C.6(6), 135.144(3); 2020 Iowa Acts ch. 1107 (S.F. 2310) § 15(1)
Issued
2020-07-17 July 17, 2020
Effective
2020-07-17
End
Carried in every proclamation through IA-038 for the 2020-21 school year (ended June 30, 2021) (read as 2021-06-30)
In force
July 17, 2020 to June 30, 2021
Quarters
2020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q2
Limitation types
Schools and child careOther
Addressees
  • school districts and accredited nonpublic schools
  • state agencies and local governmental bodies
  • Board of Educational Examiners
Functions reached
  • IN in-person instruction mandated as primary; RL remote learning confined
  • WF workforce (parents of children in hybrid or remote learning under Department-approved closures)
  • EC extended care
  • HR substitute-teacher licensure relief
Collection
Iowa IA

Operative words

IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION. SECTION ONE. Under Iowa law, 'in-person instruction is the presumed method of instruction' for all school districts and accredited nonpublic schools during the 2020-2021 school year. I direct that all state agencies, school districts, and other local governmental bodies and agencies shall take all efforts to prepare to safely welcome back students and teachers to school in-person this fall.... AUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN REMOTE LEARNING. SECTION TWO. Pursuant to 2020 Iowa Acts Chapter 1107 (Senate File 2310), section 15, subsection 1, I hereby authorize a brick-and-mortar school district or accredited nonpublic school to provide instruction primarily through remote-learning opportunities only in the following circumstances: A. Parental consent... B. Approved temporary school building or district closure: If the Iowa Department of Education, in consultation with the Iowa Department of Public Health, approves of the temporary move to primarily remote learning for an entire school building or district because of public health conditions in the building or district; C. Temporary remote learning for individual students or classrooms... D. Temporary remote learning because of inclement weather... So long as any remote learning is provided in accordance with a compliant Return-to-Learn plan and is authorized in this section or is not the primary method of instruction (because at least half of the school district or accredited nonpublic school's instruction is provided in-person during any two-week period), any instructional time provided by remote learning shall count towards the hours and days requirements of Iowa law.

Enforcement

Iowa Code § 135.144(3); SF 2310 § 15 ('shall not take action to provide instruction primarily through remote-learning opportunities' unless authorized by proclamation)

Notes

The Department of Education's approval standard for temporary remote learning (county 14-day positivity of 15 percent and 10 percent absenteeism) was guidance under this section; dozens of districts moved to hybrid or remote instruction under approvals in fall 2020.

Retrieval note

Four-page scanned PDF read by OCR.

A record of The COVID Project. The instrument's text is the source's; the summary fields are The COVID Project's reading of it. Not legal advice.