The empty parking lot was an unusual sight at the North Fayette Valley high school Monday morning as the North Fayette Valley school district decided to shut down for 30 days at the recommendation of Iowa’s governor Kim Reynolds in order to implement social distancing procedures to slow down the spread of COVID – 19. (Megan Molseed photo)
Schools CLOSED for 30 days
By Megan Molseed
mmolseed@thefayettecountyunion.com
It was shortly after 8:00 p.m. last night when Iowa governor Kim Reynolds made the announcement recommending suspension of all public school classes throughout the state of Iowa.
“Based on new information today from the Iowa Department of Public Health, now is the time to move to the next level of response,” Reynolds said in the Sunday night statement. “I am now recommending that all Iowa schools close for a period of four weeks to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
Within the hour, many area schools made the decision to follow that recommendation.
“The purpose of this suspension should be clear, to avoid large numbers of citizens from contracting the disease COVID-19,” said North Fayette Valley Superintendent Duane Willhite.
“In order for this to be effective we need to pay attention to the Department of Public Health and find some way to keep students, and adults, safe from the spread of (COVID-19),” he continued. “The best way to do that is to stay home. Don't gather in large groups. This is not a vacation, it's a public health emergency.”
Willhite added that while the district was expecting a message such as this, it wasn’t expected to come so quickly.
