The debate between personal education and virtual education in Iowa schools during the pandemic was controversial because government Kim Reynolds is pushing for legislation that requires schools to offer a 100 percent personal learning option for families.
Reynolds reiterated her position during a January 7 virtual news conference with the Iowa Capitol Press Association.
“We have so many examples in the state of school districts that have been in session all along, and they have done so in a safe and responsible manner,” Reynolds said.
‘And they have excellent data to show that the distribution does not take place in the classroom. … In general, the majority happen outside the classroom. ”
Analysis
First, we’ll see if Iowa has ‘so many examples’ of districts with 100 percent personal instructions doing so in a ‘safe and responsible way’.
A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Education said the latest survey among all school districts, conducted on Dec. 9, showed that 82 percent were self-employed five days a week.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes masking, social distancing, hand hygiene, and consistent cleaning as ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in schools.
On the ‘safe and responsible way’, Reynolds’ spokesperson The Gazette focused on weekly voluntary COVID-19 surveys conducted by the State Department of Education.
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The survey was looked at with the most districts participating between the beginning of the school year and November 29th. Of the 130 district reporting data, 121 indicated that students wore masks, 123 socially distanced, and 77 divided students.
However, more than two-thirds of the districts did not participate in the survey. Participation in the voluntary survey decreased in the following weeks, with 7 per cent participating from 4 to 10 January.
Reynolds’ statement about most of the distribution that takes place outside the classroom is consistent with perspectives from local, federal, and international health experts.
Public health officials from Linn and Johnson counties told The Gazette in December that COVID-19 had not spread significantly through classroom contact.
The Governor’s Office referred to a CDC study released on January 13, which indicates that students in areas with personal education are similar to areas that offer exclusive online education.
A study published June 16 in the scientific journal Nature Medicine also showed a lower probability of children transmitting COVID-19 as adults.
A report by the World Health Organization from October noted that ‘some outbreaks have been reported in schools since early 2020’, although the organization is still ‘learning more as schools reopen’.
But this is not necessarily a consensus in the scientific community.
Some European experts are reconsidering the idea that the spread of COVID-19 among children mostly takes place outside classrooms, a Wall Street Journal article reported on January 16.
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Antoine Flahault, director of the University of Geneva’s Institute for Global Health, told the Journal there was “much more evidence” from the second wave of COVID-19 infections that “school children are almost equally, if not more infected” than other.
An November 5 article by the Association of American Medical Colleges, which compiled research from medical colleges across the country, states that COVID-19 has spread in schools, although it has not yet been a superspreader website.
The AAMC article also notes that schools are doing well to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the classroom under capacity.
Closure
Iowa Department of Education data shows that hundreds of districts were personal and work with many of the procedures recommended by CDC. A lack of data makes it unclear whether most districts have complied with the precautions, but that’s enough to fit Reynolds’ “so much” description.
Some health experts confirm Reynolds’ claim that most of the spread of COVID-19 among students comes from outside the classroom, but this is not a consensus in the scientific community.
Grade: B. There is some data behind every part of Reynolds’ assertion, but uncertainty remains in the scientific community.
Criteria
The Fact Checker team checks the statements of a political candidate / official from Iowa or a national candidate / official about Iowa, or in advertisements that appear in our market.
Claims must be able to be confirmed independently.
We give statements from A to F based on accuracy and context.
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This fact checker was researched and written by John Steppe of The Gazette.