IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa City Schools plans to return students to class next week, but is also applying for a waiver to stay online as a precautionary measure.
The district says the waiver from the state would give it flexibility if there's a spike in COVID-19 rates.
Johnson County now has a rate below the state's threshold for online only classes, but above the level set by the district earlier this year.
The district says it'll announce a final decision Friday on its plan for next week. It currently has the OK for online only classes through Monday.
A new waiver would allow for online only classes through next Friday, which is when Iowa City schools let out for the two week Christmas holiday period.
The state's threshold for online only classes is a county COVID-19 positivity rate of 15 percent over a 14-day average, while the district has set its own level of 10 percent.
Johnson County has a positivity rate of 11 percent as of early Thursday morning, the seventh lowest in the state.
More than a third of Iowa's counties have a positivity rate below 15 percent, a sharp contrast to mid-November when only three counties were below that level during the height of a virus spike in the state.