What's New at Dubuque Community Schools

On Wednesday, the Dubuque County Board of Health voted to support a proposal from the Dubuque County Public Health Incident Management Team to suspend contact tracing efforts for positive COVID-19 cases.

By Iowa Code, the Dubuque Community School District cannot engage in contact tracing and investigation without the involvement of a public health agency. Currently, the district contact traces as an extension of the Dubuque County Health Department / Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) and, as such, will also suspend contact tracing in schools.

The district’s protocols for those who test positive for COVID-19 or those with symptoms of illness have not changed.

In place of contact-tracing efforts, the Dubuque Incident Management Team will increase promotion of quarantine and isolation guidance as well as the Dubuque County COVID-19 “hotline” for questions and support.

The team’s recommendation follows recent decisions by other Iowa counties to suspend contact tracing, including Linn County and Johnson County, and is based on the increased level of community spread of COVID and the increased difficulty in reaching positive individuals.

Additional reasons cited by the incident management team include:

• A delay in information sharing and reporting by state public health with local public health which prevents contact during the first 24-48 hours after diagnosis, the most critical period for spread.
• An increasing percentage of contact tracing calls to residents by Dubuque County Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) staff that go unanswered.
• New testing options like rapid at-home tests that are reducing the number of positive cases reported to public health, preventing contact tracing with these individuals.

The district, and schools throughout Dubuque County, are also experiencing these issues and support the change.

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance that reduces the isolation period for someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

The Dubuque County Health Department, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), and the CDC are all in alignment regarding this guidance and beginning Monday, Jan. 10, the guidance allows individuals to return after 5 days as follows:

COVID-19 POSITIVE CASE / ISOLATION GUIDELINES
Based on guidance from the CDC, IDPH and Dubuque County Health Department, individuals who test positive for COVID-19 will be instructed to self-isolate for at least 5 calendar days following the onset of symptoms OR 5 calendar days following the date the positive test was administered if the individual is asymptomatic. (Day 0 is the first day of symptoms or the date the positive test was administered if asymptomatic.)

Individuals may return to school after the 5 calendar days if ALL THREE of the following are true:

• The individual’s symptoms are resolving or the individual continues to have no symptoms if asymptomatic
• The individual continues to wear a mask around others for an additional 5 calendar days
• The individual is fever free for 24 hours (one full day) without fever-reducing medication.

If all three of the requirements above are not met, an individual needs to isolate for the full 10 calendar days.

The guidance above will be provided to individuals who test positive for COVID-19 when they are contacted by the Dubuque County Health Department/Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) for contact tracing.

During the contact tracing process, the VNA will also give guidance for identified unvaccinated, household close contacts that their quarantine period will also be 5 calendar days with wearing a mask around others for an additional 5 calendar days.

Registration for free four-year-old preschool in the Dubuque Community School District will begin on Monday, Jan. 10. This includes 12 Dubuque public elementary schools offering preschool through the Statewide Voluntary Free Preschool Program. (Please note that due to space constraints, Hoover Elementary School will not offer preschool programming for the 2022-2023 school year.)

Parents and guardians may register students in person at the selected site, beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, January 10.

Proof-of-age, preferably a birth certificate, is required to register a student. Other accepted proof-of-age documents include a passport or signed immunization record.

Preschool registration paperwork is available to complete in advance beginning on the district’s preschool webpage or in-person at all elementary schools. You can also find registration details and forms, as well as additional preschool information, online at www.dbqschools.org/preschool.

Read More about “2022-2023 Free Four-Year-Old Preschool Registration Begins Monday, Jan. 10”

The Dubuque Community School District is pleased to announce a new live-streaming service that will give families, friends and supporters the chance to view high school athletic contests online from anywhere.

The service will add four district facilities to the National Federation of State High School Association streaming network with the addition of Pixellot live stream cameras in the following facilities: Dalzell Field and Nora Gymnasium at Dubuque Senior High School and the District Aquatic Center and Moody Gymnasium at Hempstead High School.

Through this enhancement, viewers will be able to follow sophomore- and varsity-level competitions in these locations beginning this winter sports season.

Subscriptions to the NFHS Network are available for $10.99/month or $69.99 each year, and are made directly through the NFHS website.

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Subscriptions include both live competitions and on-demand viewing of past events for contests played at the district’s four sites, as well as at any other high school across the state and country that is part of the NFHS Network.

We are excited to provide this opportunity to access live-streamed events in addition to watching our athletic competitions in person. Thank you for your continued support of the Dubuque Senior Rams and the Hempstead Mustangs!

Tonight, at the October 11 Board of Education meeting, the Board voted to use the district’s COVID-19 dashboard data to determine mask requirements on a per building basis beginning Monday, Oct. 18.

The following criteria will be used to determine if/when masks are required on a per building basis:

The district will enact a temporary mask requirement for employees, students and visitors in any district building that reaches 3.0% or higher of active, positive cases of students/staff in that building. If enacted, it will remain in effect until the percent of active, positive cases lowers below 3.0%.

There will be exemptions in place for medical, religious, brain health or other reasons at the discretion of the superintendent or designee.

This district monitors the percentage of student/staff active, positive cases on a daily basis and will communicate with a building if/when this temporary mask requirement is put in effect.

Currently, no district building exceeds 1.18% of active, positive cases.

Additional information will be available later this week regarding the process to apply for an exemption from this requirement.

Dear Dubuque Schools Families and Staff,

Since the news was announced late Monday afternoon regarding federal court Judge Pratt issuing a temporary restraining order on Iowa’s law banning school districts from requiring the wearing of masks at school, our district team has been working on this issue.

We understand the issue of masks has become very polarizing in our community, state and nation and we want to make sure we move forward in a process-driven and transparent way. We have a responsibility as a district to take all factors into account in order to make decisions that are both in alignment with the law and in the best interests of our students and staff.

In the past 48+ hours, we have consulted with the district’s legal counsel and talked with many representatives from other school districts, our state association, and health officials. We have also received significant feedback from families and staff on both sides of this issue – and we want you to know that this feedback has been heard.

As we look at our direction moving forward, it is important to provide context on the laws public school districts are required to adhere to and Judge Pratt’s most recent court ruling:

• As a public school district, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that students with disabilities are provided with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
• In the latest federal court decision, Judge Pratt finds that disabled students’ civil rights under federal law are violated by the prohibition of mask mandates.
• The ruling states this is because these students are denied an equal opportunity to participate in or benefit from the school environment due to severe risk of illness.
• Judge Pratt also states that requiring masks in schools constitutes a reasonable accommodation to allow disabled and immunocompromised students access to the school environment.

Following the judge’s decision, the district sought a legal opinion from both the district’s general counsel, as well as the district’s special education attorney.

Based on the court ruling, both attorneys independently concurred that by not having a mask mandate in place for all students, the district would be exposing itself to potential liability for discrimination and violation of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The district must now consider next steps given this latest ruling related to masks. In order to do so, the School Board will hold a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20, in the Hempstead High School Auditorium to consider the attorneys’ conclusion and take possible action. The meeting will be live streamed on the district’s Facebook and Twitter pages. View the meeting agenda.

We move forward knowing that there is a long-standing sense of pride in the Dubuque community and deep desire to put students first, despite varying opinions.

As we navigate these never-before-seen challenges, and recognizing that the requirements before us may continue to change and evolve, let’s move forward leading by example for our students and community – with respect, compassion and dignity.

Sincerely,
Stan Rheingans
Superintendent of Schools

Late this afternoon, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Iowa law that bans school districts from mandating masks.

As you can imagine, we have already received a significant amount of feedback on both sides of this issue.

We wanted you to know that we are working to gain additional clarity around the details of this restraining order and the legal process moving forward.

We will also be seeking guidance from our legal counsel and state associations as we discuss next steps, and we will share additional information with you as it becomes available.

It is great to see our schools filled with excited learners as we wrap up the third week of the school year! We are starting to find the routines of the year and there are many great things happening across the district.

We continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation in both the district and the county – and encourage you to stay up-to-date with the latest data as the year progresses.

View the District COVID-19 Dashboard, which is updated daily Monday-Friday and shows the number, school and grade level of active, positive COVID-19 cases in the district.

For county and state data, you can find up-to-date information from the following:

• City of Dubuque COVID-19 Information
• Dubuque County Health Department
• CDC COVID Data Tracker
• Iowa Department of Public Health COVID Dashboard (Summary Statistics)
• Iowa Department of Public Health COVID Positive Case Analysis

Our county data currently shows an increasing number of students age 0-17 who are testing positive for COVID-19.

Based on this increasing number, we encourage you to consider wearing a mask indoors at schools, especially in cases when social distancing and vaccination are not possible, in order to reduce spread of COVID-19.

We continue to maintain a number of additional mitigation protocols to help create the safest possible learning environment for students and staff.

We appreciate your ongoing support of our students and schools!