The Burlington Community School District Board of Educators have decided to push back the start date for schools.
On Friday, the board held an emergency meeting to discuss the options for reopening school, which was scheduled for Monday, August 24th.
Officials said data from the Iowa Department of Public Health was released Friday that showed a COVID-19 positivity rate of 15.3 percent in Des Moines County, the third-highest rate in Iowa.
The board considered three options: to continue with the current plan to start on Monday on a hybrid A/B schedule, to apply for temporary permission to provide primarily continuous/remote learning, or to delay the start of school for one week. “In order to protect the health of students, staff, and the community, The Board voted unanimously to delay the start of the school year to August 31, 2020,” officials said in a Facebook post.
Officials on the board will meet again on Monday and will plan to hold a special meeting on August 26. This will be to review the state of the public health emergency and plans for reopening school.