GHV and West Hancock schools to remain closed for year

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Friday that Iowa schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.

The order to close schools down is to continue to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“I would like nothing more than to stand before you today and announce that Iowa will be open for school in May,” Reynolds said during the news conference. “But, I can’t tell you with certainty based on the Department of Public Health data that Early May will be the right time for students, teachers and staff to gather again in their classrooms.”

The closure also includes the cancellation of all spring sports seasons; a decision on summer sports will be made on June 1.

Schools will be required to provide learning opportunities online or via paper packet distributed to students.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that 2332 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 64 have died from the respiratory illness.

Both West Hancock and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura school districts have been one of the many school districts to implement learning opportunities through online courses.

"Under normal circumstances it would take months to develop continuous learning plans," Reynolds said. "We did it in a matter of weeks. Each of our school districts submitted plans just one week ago."