Newton schools return to pre-pandemic procedures

Updates to the Newton school district’s Return to Learn Plan no longer require students or teachers wear a mask for five more days when returning to school after testing positive for COVID-19 and showing greatly improved symptoms. The school board voted 6-1 on Sept. 26 to strike the language from the plan.

In doing so, the school district also no longer recommends 10 days of isolation for people unable wear a mask, people who choose not to wear a mask, people with moderate or severe illness and people who are immunocompromised. Which ultimately means the school are operating with pre-pandemic procedures.

Newton Superintendent Tom Messinger sent a letter to families on Sept. 29 explaining the change, saying the biggest lesson the district learned from the past two years is the need to constantly and consistently look out for the health of everyone by remembering to stay at home when feeling ill.

“This is something which has not been a focus of school districts in the past,” Messinger said in the letter to Cardinal families. “We want staff to be here for the kids and we want our kids to be here to learn. But the best way to keep people in school is to keep people healthy.”

With this new change also comes the removal of the Return to Learn Plan from the school district’s website. Although administrators will still follow the plan and concentrate on the health of everyone, Messinger said they are treating COVID-19 and other illnesses the same.

If students test positive for COVID-19, it is the parents who are responsible to notify the school. Students with COVID-19 should still stay home for five days from symptom onset or a positive test if asymptomatic. If they show no symptoms or symptoms have greatly improved, they may return to school on the sixth day.

Same rules apply for staff, who are to notify building principals and human resources and also submit their absence if they test positive for COVID-19. Staff are also to stay home for five days from symptom onset or a positive test if showing no symptoms. They, too, can return to school on the sixth day.

It is also against the law for Iowa schools to enforce mask mandates.

Messinger said at the board meeting that the district is not seeing a significant number of people testing for COVID-19. Since it is being treated like any other illness, some people are going to the doctor and some choose not to. If people are testing, Messinger added, they are not sharing the results of it.

“So we have a policy in place that really doesn’t accomplish a whole lot in terms of any type of separation or anything like that because it’s really hit and miss on whether people are testing period,” he said. “And if they are testing, they’re really not sharing the results.”

Robyn Friedman, president of the Newton school board, asked Messinger if school nurses are testing for COVID-19. Messinger said he does not believe they are. Friedman also asked if nurses are recommending families to get COVID-19 tests or find out if their children tested positive.

“Not that I’m aware of,” he said. “Our discussions so far have basically been they have been recommending to people to do it just like any other illness. They’ll tell the parent what the symptoms and everything are, if it is a fever or they believe it’s something that could prevent the kid from going to school.”

School board member Donna Cook was the only official to vote against the motion.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext 560 or at cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com