School shutdown extended to at least May 4 in Charles City

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City School District announced Thursday that school will continue to be closed until at least Monday, May 4.

School had previously been closed until April 13 due to the COVID-19 situation, but Thursday afternoon Gov. Kim Reynolds recommended Iowa schools continue with the shutdown until April 30.

During the extended shutdown, the Charles City district said it will continue with all of the services it has been providing, including food service, the food backpack program, teaching and learning support, the district technology help desk, virtual mental health appointments and regular communication.

“We stress, now more than ever, students and families need to stay home as much as possible,” the district said in a press release. “The number of cases continues to rise and social distancing is critical to making sure our community stays safe. Our campuses will continue to be closed.”

The district said it wants to hear from the community regarding what families need during the shutdown.

“If it’s food, toilet paper, or additional teaching and learning resources, please let us know,” the release said. “There are community partners who are willing to help our Charles City Community Schools family. You can email cccsd@charlescityschools.org with your needs.”

As a “beacon of hope for students, staff, and community members,” the district said the lights at the new sports complex ball diamonds by the high school will be illuminated each night from 7-10 p.m., starting Thursday.

“As a Comet family, we will make it through this unprecedented time,” the district said. “Even though we aren’t physically together we are united in these challenges.”