Fairfield school board approves return-to-learn plan

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors approved the district’s return-to-learn plan during its meeting Monday night, establishing guidelines for COVID mitigation measures.

Unlike last year when the board had to decide on a mask policy and whether to hold classes in person or online, there was little to debate this time around because those decisions have been made by the state.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has forbidden districts from requiring masks and is requiring schools to offer 100 percent in-person instruction. Online classes will not be an option this year.

The district’s policy on masks is that they are “strongly recommended,” as is the COVID-19 vaccine. Board member Frank Broz asked whether the state’s policy forbidding a mask mandate, including on buses, contradicted a policy from the federal Department of Transportation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that requires masking on public transport, including school buses.

Superintendent Laurie Noll said the district’s attorney investigated the matter, and for now the district’s policy is that masking on buses is “strongly recommended.”

The other area of the district’s return-to-learn plan discussed Monday was the thresholds for triggering hybrid learning (partly in-person and partly online) or fully online instruction based on the number of COVID-19 cases in the school population or the county.

Since hybrid and online learning are not allowed this year, Noll said that reaching the thresholds will not necessarily mean that the district switches to hybrid or online learning. Instead, the district would ask permission from the Iowa Department of Education to move to hybrid or online learning.

The board talked about the upcoming bond vote on Sept. 14 that will decide whether the district takes out a $34 million bond to build a new middle school. Money will be used to purchase air conditioning for the high school gymnasium and relocate the tennis courts south of the middle school.

Noll will lead three more community meetings where the public is invited to learn more about the district’s plans and to ask questions. Community meetings will be on the following two Tuesdays, Aug. 24 and Aug. 31, in the Fairfield Middle School Commons at 5 p.m. both days. The last community meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, in the middle school commons. It will be available through Zoom.

The district has created a website, bondissue.org/Fairfield, which includes information about the bond, the nature of the proposal, why the district has called for a vote, how the bond will affect property taxes and how the district’s tax rate compares to other districts, as well as information about how to vote in the election.

Absentee voting begins Wednesday, Aug. 25, at the Jefferson County Courthouse and runs until Sept. 13. Voters who wish to vote absentee must fill out an absentee request form before filling out their ballot.

The deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed is Aug. 30. New this year is a rule stipulating that the ballot must arrive back at the county auditor’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, so voters should plan accordingly.