While the Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center school districts may want to keep at the same pace of learning for its students while schools are closed for four weeks due to novel coronavirus 2019, there isn’t a suitable option that keeps everyone in mind.

The Guthrie Center School Board discussed at their recent meeting whether requiring students to complete school assignments and other learning activities was an option. ACGC Superintendent Dennis McClain says moving classes to online wouldn’t be the best decision, for reasons that narrow down to accessibility and equity, “We want all of our students to have access. That’s why we’re a public school and if we go online we’ve got certain segments of our population that aren’t going to be able to access that the same as everyone else. Either they’re too young, you know they’re preschoolers through third grade, fourth grade, and can’t access that the way a high schooler would. English Language Learners, we’re going to have trouble with that without having that face-to-face contact. Again, face-to-face contact is no longer an option, so that becomes an issue.”

Other detractors McClain mentioned were lack of internet access for some students, and a requirement to provide special education instruction alongside general education. Rather than having disparate levels of ability to perform schoolwork online, McClain says they are going to press forward once the students are back. Some ideas McClain offers to families do over break include reading together, and writing letters to loved ones and even teachers. Iowa public schools are also not expected to have to make up for the loss days, as the state legislature is seeking to advance a bill to waive the requirement.