Now that Governor Kim Reynolds has announced schools are to remain closed for the rest of the school year due to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, the decision will certainly have an impact on this year’s high school seniors.

Greene County School District Superintendent Tim Christensen says in terms of statewide requirements for high school seniors to graduate, the governor previously made a decision about that before her recent closure announcement came on Friday.

“At this point in time the governor has already signed a proclamation or a resolution exempting seniors from any of the requirements at the state level, which would be government, CPR (certification), (and) financial literacy. From the school board standpoint, one of our local requirements is speech (and) that is something our local school board is going to have to address.”

When it comes to seniors moving onto college next year, Christensen says though COVID-19 has impacted spring classes, he doesn’t believe it will stop any student from entering college.

“The regents, universities and colleges in Iowa have pretty much already said that they’re going to look on everybody favorably on this and they’re not going to hold it against anybody. I’m not fearful that that’s going to impact anybody negatively.”

Finally, with the school buildings being closed for the rest of the school year, Christensen notes they are working on plans to have graduation, but it will no longer be done in person on the designated day of May 24th.