Discussion of how the Panorama School District should respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak in Iowa was had by the School Board this week.

Superintendent Shawn Holloway says they’ve already distributed information on COVID-19 to parents on what precautions they should take for the respiratory illness, and he says county health officials are at the helm of determining any school closures should the virus be confirmed in the district, “We are right now, also anytime we have an event that will bring outside people into the district, we do plan to send out communication on the front side of each of those that really just simply says ‘hey, if you have flu-like symptoms or if you’ve been to one of the areas that are affected by the coronavirus, that we ask you not to attend.’”

COVID-19 has sparked cancellations of some large-scale student events that Panorama had on its calendar, and Holloway says if the last four days have been an indication he expects more cancellations to come. In other business, the School Board approved the 2020-2021 non-certified staff handbook, adding two snow makeup days to the end of the school calendar, and approved next year’s calendar, which will include a monthly full professional development day on Fridays.