WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - The West Des Moines School District is indicating it may refuse to follow state guidelines requiring 50 percent in-person classes in the upcoming school year.
The West Des Moines School Board issued a statement Wednesday night instructing the superintendent set up a lower threshold to determine when 100 percent online learning is called for.
The statement says Iowa law gives school districts exclusive power in all school matters, and states that the legislature has traditionally understood and supported the need for local control by school districts.
Governor Kim Reynolds has repeatedly referenced a bill passed by lawmakers this year (SF 2310) requiring in-person learning as the primary mode of education. Reynolds has interpreted the law as calling for 50 percent in-person classes.
West Des Moines schools has joined three other metro districts - Des Moines, Urbandale and Waukee - in announcing that they may defy state guidelines.
The West Des Moines board is also instructing the superintendent to seek a delay in the start of the school year, and says it could vote on the superintendent's recommendations during its Monday meeting.
The Urbandale district says it will announce its plan for classes on August 14th.
State guidelines allow district's to apply for temporary online only classes when a county's COVID-19 positivity rate over a 14-day period is at least 15% and school absenteeism is 10% or higher. Polk County, which incorporates most of the metro school districts, currently has an 8 percent positivity rate over the past 14 days.