USDA Ensures All Kids Can Get Free Meals This Summer as Nation Reopens

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a nationwide extension of another key flexibility for USDA’s child nutrition programs. This waiver allows local partners, who have been working overtime serving meals to kids during the health crisis, the ability to continue serving free meals to all children – regardless of where they live – for the remainder of the summer. This action is part of USDA’s ongoing commitment to making it as easy as possible for local program operators to get food to children impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more, visit www.fns.usda.gov/coronavirus and follow FNS on Twitter at @USDANutrition. 

DE Revised Guidance: Summer Sports, Learning & Activities, Use of School Facilities; IDPH Guidance on Summer Sports

The Iowa Department of Education is releasing revised guidance on summer sports, summer learning and activities, and use of school facilities. The Department believes the revisions are warranted following new proclamations from Governor Reynolds, feedback from the field about the initial guidance, and our desire to allow school leaders to best respond to the strengths and needs of their local communities. The changes are summarized below.

The revised Summer Sports Guidance adds a statement that refers people to the Use of School Facilities Guidance for information on the use of school facilities for activities other than baseball and softball.

The revised Summer Learning and Activities Guidance adds a statement that any school district, nonpublic school, or governing association may begin offering summer activities in consultation with public health and local law enforcement. This includes extracurricular activities and co-curricular activities, but no sports other than those expressly permitted by Department guidance or a proclamation of the governor.

The revised Use of School Facilities Guidance adds a statement that the Department defers to local districts, public health, the IHSAA, IGHSAU, and other associations that support school activities to determine when and how activities will resume. The Department continues to exercise general supervision over and provide guidance about the use of school facilities in accordance with Iowa Code and the governor’s proclamations.

The Iowa Department of Public Health has also released new guidance today regarding potential COVID-19 exposures on baseball and softball teams. This guidance supplements our summer sports guidance.

Please know that the DE will continue to keep you informed of any new updates. All current guidance is included on the COVID-19 Guidance and Information page on their website. In addition, recordings of previous Zoom sessions can be found on their YouTube channel or on their COVID-19 Webinar Recordings for PK-12 School Administrators in Iowa webpage (along with PowerPoint slides as applicable). Return-to-Learn supports can be found on the Return-to-Learn Google Site.

DE Guidance: Continuous Improvement, PD, Mitigation Survey

The Iowa Department of Education is releasing guidance on new Return-to-Learn resources addressing continuous improvement processes (Leadership B1), professional development (Infrastructure C1-C2), the mitigation survey and student/family connection log. All Return-to-Learn supports can be found on their Return-to-Learn Google site. The Department established a partnership with UnboundEd to provide educators with standards-based professional learning opportunities that align with the Return-to-Learn support document (overview document).