Jaeger highlights a year of districtwide COVID cases

     On Sept. 14, Monticello Superintendent Brian Jaeger sent out an email to parents and staff seeking opinion as to whether the Monticello Community School District should reinstate a mask mandate of all staff, students, and visitors.

     On Sept. 13, a federal judge issued a temporary order, putting an immediate stop to Governor Kim Reynolds’ and the Iowa Legislature’s law that did not allow school districts to make their own decision at the local level when it came to wearing masks in schools. That law was enacted in May.

     “So what I’m asking from you, if you’re a staff member or a parent, I want to know what your opinion is,” asked Jaeger. “I want to know what your thoughts are, and put it altogether and bring it to our school board along with the data that we have on the number of positive COVID cases in our schools, in our county, in our state, looking at local positivity rates and giving consideration to what health experts are saying in regards to mask wearing in our school district.”

     Survey results were due back to the school by Friday, Sept. 17. Other than asking what grade(s) parents’ children were in, the big question was: “What would you like the school board to consider regarding wearing or not wearing masks at school, on buses, and at extracurricular activities for students, staff and visitors when at school or school activities?”

     The district received responses from 143 staff members and 429 parents.

     “These will be received by the school board before the Sept. 27 school board meeting, along with several other pieces of information to help paint a clear picture of our situation,” Jaeger said.

     Jaeger also sent out a district-wide update regarding COVID on Sept. 17.

     There are 16 positive cases K-12 (staff and students), up five cases from the week prior. There are also 48 cases (staff and students) that are being monitored. This number includes those in quarantine, those waiting for COVID test results, or those with COVID-like symptoms. That number has dropped by eight cases from last week.

     Jaeger also shared that the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported a seven-day positivity rate of 11 percent, which is up 2 percent from last week. In the last seven day, there have been 78 reported COVID cases in Jones County, which is a dramatic increase from 40 cases the previous week.

     “One other piece of data that I will share this week is the number of positive COVID cases (staff and students) in the MCSD,” said Jaeger. “From Aug. 23 through Sept. 16, 2020, there were seven cases. From Aug. 23 through Sept. 16, 2021, there were 29 cases. As you can see, that number has gone up 22 cases this year.”