October 22, 2021

District COVID-19 Active Positive Cases

• Total number of students and staff in isolation (currently positive) for COVID-19: five (5)
• Current district facilities with known positive cases: John Cline Elementary, Decorah Middle School, Decorah High School

DCSD reports COVID-19 data in alignment with the direction of the Iowa Department of Public Health. The full guidance can be found at the link below.

IDPH Information Sharing Guidance for Schools and Local Public Health

School Board and City Council Candidate Forum

The Luther College Center for Ethics and Public Engagement (CEPE) will hold a city council and school board candidate forum Wednesday, October 27, 2021. The forum will be held over Zoom and is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.

The District is grateful for each candidate’s desire to serve the community and district and for CEPE facilitating this opportunity for community members to hear from the council and board candidates. Information about the forum and a link to the Zoom event can be found below:

October 27 Local Candidate Forum Information and Zoom Link

DCSD Winter Weather-related Communication

In his weekly message to parents, Superintendent Mark Lane shared the District’s procedures concerning a possible delay, dismissal, or cancellation due to inclement weather. He wrote, “In most cases, we will make the decision to delay or cancel in the early morning based on real-time weather conditions; we prefer to communicate a single decision to families and staff rather than communicating a decision the night before and then needing to change the decision the following morning. Our goal is to inform families by 6:00 amfor cancellations or morning delays and by 11:00 amfor early dismissals.”

He continued, “When school is delayed, we will notify families directly via email and text, post an alert on the district website, post on our district Twitter account, and communicate with media outlets.”

Sources for School-Related Closure Information

Decorah Schools	Television	Radio	Internet
District Website- www.decorah.k12.ia.us   Twitter- @DecorahSchools   SchoolMessenger-  Direct messaging through email and text: Those NOT receiving text messages from DCSD should send a new text message to 67587 with the message: Yes	KCRG Channel 9  Cedar Rapids   KWWL Channel 7  Waterloo   KTTC Channel 10 Rochester	Decorah Stations KDHK 100.5 FM KVIK 104.7 FM KNEI 103.5 FM KMRV 99.1 FM/1160 AM KDEC 1240 AM   Rochester Stations KROC 106.9 FM KYOB 105.3 FM KDOC 103.9 FM KDCZ 107.7 FM KWWK 96.5 FM	www.decorahnews.com

Lane also expressed his gratitude to everyone who volunteered to assist at the state qualifying cross country meet this week. “We are not able to host these types of events without community support,” Lane commented.