During Tuesday’s school board meeting, the ICCSD announced they are considering starting the original hybrid learning model for in-person schooling on September 28. The model was originally postponed two weeks due to high COVID 19 positivity rates in Iowa City. Although the 14-day positivity rate for Johnson County was 13.45 percent, the school board anticipates a decrease to under 10 percent in the rate by Friday. 

During the ICCSD school board meeting on Tuesday, Chace Ramey, the chief operating officer for ICCSD, said the school district is prioritizing the health of each student and staff member.

“We’re taking our advice from the experts, and trying to really execute (going to school in-person) in a way that keeps all our staff and students as safe as possible,” Ramey said. 

 On Friday, September 18, if the positivity rate of Iowa City is below 10%, the School Board will make a decision regarding the hybrid option. If the hybrid option is approved, the week of September 21 will be online while staff transition to hybrid and the week of September 28 will be hybrid. 

The matter of the open seat on the school board was also addressed during the meeting. Candidates for the open seat were allotted three minutes to make their case for the seat to the board. After every candidate had spoken, board members were given the opportunity to voice their opinions about the candidates. 

The next step toward election was nomination. Each board member ranked their top three candidates and used a weighting system to determine the winner. Each of the board members gave their top three and it was determined that the open seat of the school board would go to Dromi Etsey. Etsey, originally from Ghana, worked at the University of Iowa College of Law as the Director of Community Engagement.