The deadline for Iowa school districts to submit a plan to the Iowa Department of Education, following the disruptions that COVID-19 had to the previous year, is only days away.

Greene County School District Superintendent Tim Christensen says the Return to Learn plan covers several aspects of education and how the District will tackle certain issues. He points out these plans were because of how COVID-19 quickly changed the educational landscape and brought certain issues to the forefront such as providing education online. Christensen explains the Return to Learn plan isn’t specifically for this fall if the virus impacts next school year.

“The expectation from the Department of Education is in the future whether it’s September, or whether it’s November, maybe it’s five years from now every school district in Iowa needs to have a plan put together. So in case we’ve got to close schools, learning will continue. It won’t be this level of chaos that we had this year.”

Christensen says some of the areas in the plan include providing WiFi access to students, ensuring online resources are adequate to provide learning opportunities, providing professional development for parents and working on student’s social and emotional behavioral health. The Return to Learn plan must be submitted to the Department of Education by July 1st.