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Officials Working To Ensure Schools Start On Time In Two Flood-Ravaged Areas Of NW Iowa

July 15, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Des Moines)– State officials say ensuring schools start on time this fall is a priority. Iowa Department of Education director McKenzie Snow says public school districts in Spencer and Rock Valley and the Rock Valley Christian School are dealing with extensive losses and damage…

“Lost curriculum and instructional items, electronic learning devices, school buses and vans, CTE Program equipment and educational enrichment spaces and materials that range from playgrounds and gyms to libraries to band rooms.”

Snow said some progress has been made, but her agency has been involved in finding portable classrooms in other school districts that can be transferred to Spencer and Rock Valley. She says they’re also working on special arrangements for transportation…

“We are also focused on transportation needed to best serve all students. Especially students who have been misplaced or students who are experiencing homelessness.”

The first day of school is now just a little more than a month away and Governor Kim Reynolds says the goal is to get kids in a classroom for in-person instruction.

Last year, more than two thousand students were enrolled in Spencer and the public schools in Rock Valley had just under a thousand students. There were 236 students enrolled in Rock Valley Christian School for the 2023/24 school year.